• Resources

The last thing we want to do is commercialize, grow, and promote a material that - once at scale - proves to be more degenerative as the “bad” inputs it’s replacing.

While we don’t often know precisely what “scale” will look like for many novel materials, sugarcane is different- it’s a bio-feedstock already grown at a massive scale, mainly for use in food and beverage feedstocks. Given this, we better understand what environmental and social risks exist already and what we may want to be on the lookout for.

Additionally, given its history as a significant industrial crop, many LCA (life cycle assessment) software tools already have the data necessary to include sugarcane as an input material that can be assessed for impact. While LCAs, by nature, are imperfect and deserve their fair share of evaluation before use, it can be beneficial to have their calculations to understand baseline impact.

On first consideration, it’s hard to imagine how a leafy green crop can become something as common and synthetic as a plastic bag. There are a few key steps that are taken to turn sugarcane into an input material usable for making plastics chemically-identical to petroleum-based plastics.

While we envision a future where packaging is defined by materials circularity, in which packaging is made from packaging and becomes packaging again, we also recognize that virgin inputs (raw materials) will still be required.

In our vision for circularity, all virgin (raw) materials entering the packaging stream are beneficial, and at their best regenerative, to the planet—shown as “regenerative virgin source materials” in the diagram below.

Source: EcoEnclose

Replacing petroleum-based plastics with lower-impact alternatives will be a crucial step in reducing our overall reliance on fossil fuels. Sugarcane-derived polyethylene presents an interesting alternative since it is chemically identical to conventional PE, making it fully recyclable in existing systems.

If cultivated responsibly, sugarcane PE could achieve both goals: supporting the circular economy by being recyclable in existing systems and sourced from renewable sources.

We believe sugarcane-based PE can be a beneficial addition to the overall mix of low-impact plastics like recycled PCR, and particularly as a replacement for virgin fossil-fuel plastics.

For example, there are certain plastics and polymers whose current construction requires the use of raw inputs / virgin materials to reach levels of integrity, strength, or clarity that recycled plastics could otherwise not achieve. This would be an ideal use for products and packaging that have these requirements. Within our product set, there are opportunities to utilize sugarcane PE as a replacement for virgin plastic that we have not yet been able to replace successfully with PCR plastic: such as in our 50% Recycled Bubble Mailers.

Historically, conventional sugarcane cultivation has had a bad reputation, having been associated with:

• Deforestation, particularly in high-conservation value areas like the Amazon Rainforest
• Excessive water use
• Monocropping
• Soil depletion
• Social exploitation
• Habitat destruction
• Loss of biodiversity
• Contamination of water sources through pesticide and fertilizer runoff

Our reliance on sugarcane at the global scale- for both food inputs and chemical supply- is unlikely to change any time soon, but on the global scale we have collectively made changes to improve the footprint and major risks of its cultivation.

Advancements in sustainable agriculture practices, typically implemented through third-party certification protocols, have helped to mitigate many of these issues. Precision farming techniques, reduced water consumption, and more responsible land-use policies have led to better environmental outcomes. Additionally, global initiatives like Brazil’s Renovabio program promote sustainable biofuel production while discouraging deforestation.

In opposition to the traditional methodologies used for sugarcane cultivation, responsibly grown sugarcane is harvested in ways that protect and preserve the land it’s grown on.

Sustainable sugarcane farming prioritizes regenerative agricultural methods, which restore and strengthen the soil and habitat surrounding it. Regenerative farming includes taking steps such as:

• Crop rotation and intercropping to promote soil health

• Reduced use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides

• Water-efficient irrigation techniques

• Protection of natural habitats and biodiversity

• Improved labor conditions for workers

• Third-party verification and auditing

At present, two major third-party certification schemes verify sustainable growing practices for sugarcane: Bonsucro and Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC). These certifications are not mutually exclusive, and while it’s less common, there are farmers and growers who maintain both certification standards for their crops.

Bonsucro certification establishes rigorous standards for sustainable sugarcane farming. It ensures responsible land management, reduced water consumption, ethical labor practices, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Many organizations, including WWF, acknowledge Bonsucro as a key player in promoting sustainable sugarcane agriculture.

Canopy Planet, a partner organization to EcoEnclose, has also established the certification’s efficacy, which is very similar to the certification standards upheld by their preferred organization in this space, the Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB).

Drawbacks of Bonsucro

While Bonsucro has significantly improved sugarcane sustainability over the last fifteen years of its existence, some environmental groups argue that it does not fully address indirect deforestation risks. Others have called for stricter enforcement mechanisms to ensure that all certified producers consistently meet the highest standards.

Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) goes beyond traditional sustainability standards by also emphasizing:

• Soil regeneration through composting and the use of organic fertilizers

• Carbon sequestration of healthy soils

• More substantial labor rights and fair wages

• Enhanced biodiversity through agroforestry and mixed farming practices

Drawbacks of ROC Certification

While ROC sets high environmental and social responsibility standards, its adoption within the sugarcane industry has been slow due to its rigorous requirements. Some industry experts view it as difficult to scale across global supply chains.

For this reason, it’s less common to see ROC certification held by farms that produce sugarcane for industrial and chemical uses (like the production of plastics) since the cost of implementation and maintenance of certification requirements often places the sugarcane produced at a higher price point than competitors in the market. Where food and beverage brands may be more willing to pay the higher differential of price, chemical and refining companies using the input material for commodities like ethanol tend not to be.

Even with certifications, sugarcane production presents ongoing risks that we want to remain vigilant to, including:

• Land-Use and Habitat Impact: Expanding sugarcane farms, even when certified, can indirectly push other agricultural activities into ecologically sensitive areas and intact habitats in high conservation areas in Southeast Asia and South America.

• Water Consumption: While sustainable irrigation practices help, sugarcane remains a very water-intensive crop, needing continuous efficiency improvements and efforts.

• Labor Rights: Ensuring fair wages and safe working conditions across in regions with weak labor protections from local governments, remains challenging.

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions: While sugarcane-based PE can sequester carbon, emissions from land preparation, transportation, and processing must be carefully managed. There remains question around whether sugarcane can be grown and cultivated in a carbon-neutral, or even carbon-negative, way.