Biodegradable Benefits: Reduce Waste While Appealing to Consumers

While biodegradable products are a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, they also offer a host of other benefits for your company. In addition to reducing waste, one of the biggest biodegradable benefits is the appeal it has to consumers. 

In fact, 75% of millennials say that they consider sustainability when they make a purchase and 66% of global consumers are willing to pay more for products from brands committed to sustainability. With so many consumers being interested and dedicated to improved sustainability, it is important to consider incorporating biodegradable materials and final articles into your brand. Let’s explore some of the other biodegradable benefits. 

Biodegradable Benefits That Can Help Your Company

Produce Less Waste

The solid waste generated in 2023 was 2.3 billion tons, and this number is expected to grow to a massive 3.8 billion tons by 2050. Biodegradable materials and final articles can break down very rapidly, even sometimes in weeks. Since these materials and products will biodegrade over time, they won’t remain in the environment for abnormally long periods of time, ultimately reducing the impact on the ecosystem and minimizing the accumulation of waste.

Use Less Energy During Production

The production process for biodegradable materials and finished articles requires less energy than producing traditional products. Sourcing and extracting fossil fuels, such as crude oil, can be extremely energy-intensive. Many feedstocks used to create biodegradable products require less energy in this process. 

No Harmful Chemicals

Many plastics today can contain harmful chemicals such as phthalates (BBP, DBP, and DIBP). These chemicals are harmful to humans and wildlife. By substituting these for biodegradable materials which do not have a negative impact, a far healthier alternative to traditional plastics can be produced.

Sustainability is Enticing to Consumers

Many consumers, especially those part of younger generations, are becoming more and more drawn to companies that prioritize sustainability. A great way to show your consumers you are environmentally conscious and friendly is by showing them you provide or incorporate biodegradable materials or finished articles, such as packaging, in your brand. This type of product helps draw new consumers in and can be the deciding factor for purchasing your products. 

How Do You Know If Your Product is Biodegradable? 

Biodegradability is a product’s ability to be broken down by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi after customary disposal. Many materials and finished articles made from biobased feedstocks are biodegradable, however, it can be difficult to reliably know the degree of biodegradation and the rate that it will occur. 

There are a few options when you are looking for a way to test or predict the biodegradability of your products:

AI-Driven Biodegradability Prediction with ArophaAI

Start off your new molecule research with biodegradation in mind. With our unique machine learning program, we are able to rapidly advance biodegradation screening of new molecules to reduce the need for lab testing. ArophaAI will take the chemical structure of your molecule and predict its biodegradability. 

This machine learning program provides many benefits. Not only is it trained on robust models and high-quality data, making it highly accurate, but it is also cost-effective. You will save time and money by only experimentally testing the molecules that have promising odds of being biodegradable. Our team has also worked to make two versions of ArophaAI — a paid and a free version. 

Lab Biodegradation Testing

Lab biodegradability testing determines the biodegradability of your products under a given or intended use condition. These tests will mimic the environment of landfills, sea water, fresh water, composting, and more to determine how well your product will biodegrade in each environment. These methods generally measure biogas evolution to determine how well your material breaks down. 

Do You Want to Experience Biodegradable Benefits? 

If you are interested in testing the biodegradability of your products, Aropha is here to help. Our team offers a wide range of biodegradability lab testing, including OECD 301 ready biodegradability tests, ASTM 5511 anaerobic landfill simulation tests, and many more. Additionally, our unique ArophaAI technology allows us to accurately predict the biodegradability of your products without having to run any tests to prioritize your development. 

Contact Aropha to Get Started Today

Start working toward biodegradable products with Aropha’s testing. Contact us today.