You’ve ditched the bags, bottles and takeaway containers but there’s still one plastic nemesis lurking in your kitchen drawer cling wrap. A highly convenient, if not guilty reliance that, excitingly, has been tackled by an ingenious Kiwi start-up aimed at reducing plastic.
Parnell-based Compostic has developed a plastic-free cling wrap made from mostly plant-based materials which is certified home compostable, meaning that once used it can be put in a backyard compost bin to break down in 12 to 24 weeks. Given that plastic takes hundreds of years to do the same, they’re hoping making the small change will result in a big impact.
“We found that people were finding it really tough to get rid of cling wrap in their home; it’s so handy but there’s the guilt of using plastic,” says Compostic founder Jon Reed.
“A lot of people had used the reusable beeswax wraps and found them not as effective and still had cling wrap in their drawer.”
Jon says the business started with a range of home compostable bags after seeing the need to replace plastic bags, and has now focused on using the material in more ways. Compostic’s cling wrap, launched in November, has caught on and will be on North Island supermarket shelves over the next few months.
It’s already stocked in Huckleberry stores and Refill Nation and can be bought online. There’s demand for the eco-friendly alternative overseas too; it’s in the process of becoming available on Amazon, across the UK and in Australia.
Compostic says the compostable bags and wrap look and act just like plastic, and the bags, available in resealable and mailer versions, have an “addictive-to-touch” velvet-like feel. The cling wrap is pre-perforated and dyed green using soy-based inks so it can be easily spotted in a compost bin and not mistaken for plastic.
Not surprisingly, going green is pricier. A 30m roll of Compostic’s wrap retails at $10 while your average plastic cling film of the same length can be bought for under $5. It’s also about three to five times more expensive to manufacture.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.That’s being done offshore in China to keep the product affordable for consumers. So far they’ve had positive feedback, including local restaurants getting on board and wanting to buy in bulk.
“The more people we can have supporting these sorts of products then the cheaper they will become,” says Jon. “We are trying to quickly get the price down so that everybody, including households and businesses, can use it.
“Our aim is to grow really fast if there’s a product like this out there then the faster it gets into people’s hands and rids plastic from households the better.”
If you’re interested and don’t have a compost bin set up at home, there are 12 commercial compost facilities around the country, operated with help from collection services such as We Compost.
• Visit Compostic.co.nz
