FINLAND – Finland-based manufacturer of sparkling water makers MySoda has launched a new sparkling water maker made from a wood-based biocomposite, as an environmentally friendly alternative to ones made from plastic alone.
Available in several European countries, the new MySoda Woody product is the result of a three-year development project jointly undertaken by MySoda and UPM, a Finnish forest industry company.
According to a report by FoodBev, the project is aimed to create a sustainable solution with a reduced quantity of fossil-based plastic compared to other sparkling water makers on the market.
According to MySoda, the machine is made from 99% renewable and wood-based raw material.
60% of the biocomposite material consists of polypropylene – made of renewable tall oil – and the remaining 40% is made from wood fibre, a side-stream product from the sawmill industry.
MySoda claims that the biocomposite is equivalent to conventional plastic in terms of strength and rigidity, which enables its use in products designed for daily use.
David Solomon, CEO of MySoda, said: “We wanted to introduce a brand-new device into the product category of sparkling water makers – a product free of plastic, distinguishing it from many other small household appliances.”
“We conducted uncompromising product development with our partners for three years and created a device that is both pleasing to the eye and made of environmentally friendly material.”
David Solomon – CEO MySoda
Plastic based packaging and electronics are increasingly becoming unpopular among consumers due to their negative impact on the environment.
Despite of them having a shorter lifetime: 15 minutes for packaging and at least 1 year for electronics, most of these products are not readily biodegradable.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), plastics take between 20 years to 500 years to fully decompose.
With at least 300 million tonnes of plastics being produced annually and more than 8 million of these finding themselves into our oceans, it thus makes sense for plastics to be frowned upon by environmentally conscious consumers.
According to Solomon, consumer surveys indicated that the design of sparkling water makers on the market did not please consumers prompting the need to develop a new one.
“We conducted uncompromising product development with our partners for three years and created a device that is both pleasing to the eye and made of environmentally friendly material,” David added.
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