Compostable bioplastics for single-use coffee pods

G-PAK Technology Inc.（“G-PAK”）是一家位于英国不列颠哥伦比亚省萨里的私人控股公司，开发基于完全生物基材料的可堆肥 ** 一次性咖啡豆。虽然基于Keurig 'K-Cup'的单杯咖啡豆在过去十年中大受欢迎，但该行业产生的不可生物降解的塑料废物 ** 令人震惊。目前全球每年销售超过90亿个聚苯乙烯杯 **，如果首尾相连，足以绕地球仪11圈。此外，咖啡豆需要500年以上的时间才能在土壤中分解，造成了巨大的环境负担，而且这种负担还在继续增加（在加拿大，五分之一的家庭现在拥有一台Keurig咖啡机）。G-PAK致力于解决 ** 这一问题，通过开发使用后完全可堆肥的咖啡豆荚。不幸的是，普通的生物塑料，如G-PAK使用的生物塑料，相对于商业聚苯乙烯，具有更高的氧气渗透性 **，从而缩短了以这种方式储存的咖啡的保质期。通过与 ** Zachary哈德逊教授在不列颠哥伦比亚省大学的实验室合作，G-PAK打算开发 ** 可堆肥塑料，这些塑料采用完全生物基材料，具有必要的透氧性，以 ** 保持从分销商到消费者的咖啡所需的风味。该项目旨在为具有环保意识的消费者创造适用于食品包装的环保材料，并在不可回收塑料目前为行业标准的多种食品包装中具有潜在应用。聚合物合成和可持续化学都是 ** 教授的关键方面。哈德逊的研究计划，他的专业知识将补充G-PAK的团队在生物塑料的经验。

G-PAK Technology Inc. ('G-PAK') is a privately held company based in Surrey, BC that develops compostable**single-use coffee pods based on entirely bio-based materials. While single-serve coffee pods based on the**Keurig 'K-Cup' have exploded in popularity in the last decade, the resulting non-biodegradable plastic waste**generated from this industry has been staggering. Over 9 billion polystyrene cups are currently sold worldwide**every year, enough to circle the globe 11 times if placed end-to end. Furthermore, coffee pods take more than**500 years to break down in soil, creating an enormous environmental burden which continues to grow (in**Canada, one in five households now report owning a single-serve Keurig machine). G-PAK seeks to address**this problem through the development of coffee pods which are fully compostable after being used.**Unfortunately, common bioplastics such as those used by G-PAK suffer from increased oxygen permeability**relative to commercial polystyrene, reducing the shelf-life of the coffee stored in this way. By partnering with**Prof. Zachary Hudson's laboratory at the University of British Columbia, G-PAK intends to develop**compostable plastics sourced from entirely bio-based materials with the necessary oxygen permeability to**maintain the required flavour of the coffee from the distributor to the consumer. This project aims to create**environmentally friendly materials suitable for use in food packaging for the environmentally-conscious**consumer, with potential applications in many kinds of food packaging where non-recyclable plastics are**currently the industry standard. Both polymer synthesis and sustainable chemistry are key aspects of Prof.**Hudson's research program, and his expertise will complement the experience in bioplastics of G-PAK's team.