8 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay , February 7, 2010 co m m e r c i a l a p p ea l .co m

By Suzanne ThompsonSpecial to Going Green

Frito-Lay, with the helpof Memphis-based BryceCorp., has found a way toensure that its emptychip bags don’t hangaround forever. The ideais that after the consumereats the chips, the eartheats the bag.

Last month, Frito-Layintroduced new packag-ing for its popular SunChips snacks.

Previously, one-third ofthe Sun Chips 10 ½ oz.bag used renewable,plant-based materials.

Now, those same sizebags are made of 100 per-cent compostable materi-als, at least in some mar-ke t s .

“This is sort of a break-through, landmark typeapproach to food productpackaging for it to have away to protect the prod-uct before it gets to theconsumer, and then be re-newable back into na-t u re , ” said ThomasBryce, chairman of BryceCorp., a leading foodpackaging firm.

“It’s a novel, but verycomplex idea.”

Compostable packag-ing is something Brycehas been interested in de-veloping for some time,but certain factors wereinvolved in ensuring suc-cess.

“It takes a commitmentof research and develop-ment and a major clientlike Frito-Lay that is alsoc o m m i tt e d , ” said MarkMontsinger, Bryce vicepresident of research anddevelopment .

“They clearly have aninterest in bringing moresustainable packaging totheir consumers.”

“Frito-Lay is the largestproducer of salty snackpackaging in the U.S.They have been workingwith us on this idea ofsustainability, along withWal-Mart, for threeye a rs , ” Bryce said.

His company dealswith complex materials inproducing packaging, be-cause of the requirementsfor food storage. Grocerybags — paper or plastic— are made from simplermaterial and are readilyre c yc l a b l e .

“Our products typicallyare products that aremore complex,” B r yc esaid. “Salty snacks are alarge portion of our prod-uct line, a lot of candy,cookies, crackers, thosekinds of products. Theyneed shelf life and lightprotection as well as oxy-gen and moisture protec-tion.”

Frito-Lay pledged onEarth Day 2009 to haveat least one of its prod-ucts in a 100 percentcompostable packagewithin a year.

Brad Rodgers, managerof research and develop-ment in charge of sustain-ability for Frito-Lay, said

Introducing compostable packagesSun Chips bags now plant-based

The Commercial Appeal S u n d ay , February 7, 2010 | GOING GREEN 9

Just one thingWe all know that bringing our own reusable canvas tote bags to the grocery

store is the greenest choice. But if you want heavy-duty, extra-tough bags thatcan hold a lot of groceries, then look no further than your local sporting goodsstore. Large, sturdy totes designed to haul sporting equipment will do an extra-good job carrying heavy groceries, too. Tip: When bagging glass bottles, packthem on their sides, not upright; you’ll be able to fit more in the bag, and theywon’t tip over in the car ride home.

the compostable pack-aging was first intro-duced in the Texasmarket, and is sched-uled to be on theshelves of Sam’s Clubstores nationally byEarth Day (April 22).Depending on publicresponse, the compa-ny may broaden pro-duction of the com-postable packaging.

“It is certainly ourhope and intent toextend the packag-ing to all sizes of theproduct by the end of2010 or the beginningof 2011,” Rodgers said.

Steve Mojo, execu-tive director of theBiodegradable ProductsInstitute (BPI), said heis working with Frito-Lay to get their bagscertified as meeting theAmerican Standards ofTest Methods (ASTM)D6400 specification.

The D6400 specifica-tion outlines require-

ments that plastic prod-ucts have to meet inorder to disintegrateand become fullybiodegradable in a com-posting process.

The products mustbe tested in indepen-dent, approved labora-

tories. Data is reviewedby experts and then theBPI enters into a licens-ing agreement thatgives the companyseeking certification theright to use the BPItrademark and havethem listed on the BPIWeb site www.bpi-wo rl d . o rg.

The goal of all this isto encourage people incommunities aroundthe world to send theirfood scraps to compost-

ing facilities and divertthem from landfills,Mojo said.

Mojo said there is arise in the number ofproducts that meet thecertification standards.In 2009, 85 productshave earned certifica-

tion, up from 60 cer-tifications issued in2008.

The distinction be-tween compostableand biodegradable istricky and can be

m i s l e a d i n g.“People have the mis-

conception thatbiodegradable productsthat are thrown into thetrash and go to a land-fill will disappear.T h at ’s just not thecase,” Mojo said.

For a time lapse video ofthe compostable bag’sdecomposition, go toh tt p : / /w w w. s u n chi p s . co m /healthier_planet .shtml?s=co n t e n t _ co m p o s t a b l e _p a ck a g i n g.