abc.net.au/news/bio-wrap-eco-friendly-food-scraps-plastic-waste-petroleum/102627914In a massive warehouse in Melbourne's west, a gleaming new machine hums and purrs around the clock, extruding large rolls of clear plastic wrap.Consumers are increasingly willing to pay the premium for bio-packagingIt is not the petroleum-based product so ubiquitous in everyday life — from wrapping factory goods on pallets to keeping food fresh in the fridge.
The company and its products are the early, green shoots of an emerging global industry — the quest to replace petroleum-based plastic products with equivalents made from plant-based materials that are just as functional.Julia and Jordy Kay encountered a lot of plastic pallet wrapping in their previous careers.
Julia Kay was an architect intent on using environmentally-friendly building materials. They too usually arrived on site wrapped in a similar fashion."We realised that if we could sort of change the materials that we're using on this one product, we could have a really profound impact on plastic waste," Ms Kay said.