With the aim of reducing the amount of plastic consumption, the Czech subsidiary of one of the world's three largest car manufacturers is testing Cortec Corporation's biodegradable corrosion inhibiting film.
Companies around the world are paying more and more attention to the environment and are moving towards a circular economy. This is also the case of a well-known car manufacturer that has decided to test Eco-Corr Film® as part of its new "green" logistics project aimed at reducing plastic consumption.
Since the consumption and disposal of plastic is unfortunately one of the largest ecological problems worldwide, Cortec® Corporation has been dedicating its research activities for years to the development of sustainable alternatives to replace conventional polyethylene films. One of these is Eco-Corr Film®, a biodegradable film with Cortec's patented VpCI® technology that inhibits corrosion and provides great contact, barrier and vapor-phase corrosion protection for ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
The "green" packaging disintegrates in a few months based on the conditions and activity of the disposal environment such as temperature, soil quality, activity of microorganisms. The film is shelf stable and will not break prematurely until disposed of in a proper composting environment. It is compostable and conforms to ASTM D6400.
The pilot project
Eco-Corr Film
® was tested by the automaker for the
transportation of automotive engines from its Czech manufacturing facility to its plant in Pune, India. Several tests were conducted for compliance with the strict conditions for shipping in sea containers. The quality control showed no damage or traces of corrosion of the components wrapped in Eco-Corr Film
® upon arrival in India.
To check if the film could be composted as intended, the staff made compost bins near the plant and six months later confirmed that the foils had largely biodegraded in the compost bins. Eco-Corr Film® has successfully proved to be a valid alternative to the conventional plastic films previously used by this car manufacturer, while also providing the same effective corrosion protection. This will allow the company to reduce the amount of plastic waste by up to 500 kg [1102 lbs] per month.
The organic packaging material after being composted is used as fertilizer on the trees in the logistics park in front of the Pune plant, where, starting from March 2019, visitors and employees have had the opportunity to plant trees to rejuvenate the weedy area into a park.
In July 2020, Cortec company launched a one-year pilot project to investigate the use of Eco-Corr Film® on a large scale.