Keep the questions coming

phade is made from PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a naturally occuring biopolymer which comes from the fermentation of canola oil. Because it is plant based and comes from nature, it will naturally be consumed by bacteria. PHA digesting bacteria are found in nearly all natural environments, thus making most phade branded products marine biodegradable and home and industrial compostable. Ultimately, a phade straw or phade paper cup will biodegrade wherever there is a significant presence of bacteria as the item becomes an energy and food source for the bacteria.

No. Certifications and studies show that phade is not harmful to marine life. phade has passed rigorous testing for eco-toxicity as part of its numerious certifications. Further, PHA has been used in several applications where it is intentionally introduced to marine life (as a carrier for antibiotics) and humans (for bio-medical applications). A University study* conducted in 2019 testing small quantities of PHA introduced to both fish and livestock found that fish actually grew larger, faster and with better overall digestive health than marine life that did not ingest PHA.

*Microbial Poly-3-Hydroxybutyrate (PHB) as a Feed Additive for Fishes and Piglets, May 2019, Biotechnology Journal 14(12):1900132 DOI:10.1002/biot.201900132

phade has been extensively tested and certified by numerous independent labs and third party certification bodies. All certifications and testing data for phade can be found on the website page below the Q&A section.

The tank had a temperature of 72-75 degrees Fahrenheit.

This was a demonstration to show how the cup biodegrades in a marine environment. We used ASTM D6691 as a guide for some purposes but we did not strictly adhere to it. For example, D6691 provides for a higher testing temperature of 89 degrees Fahrenheit but our tanks were cooler. In addition, we added fish and snails, which ASTM D6691 does not require or allow.

Algae. Given we were capturing footage of both tanks 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we needed to have lights on in the area at different times. Algae tend to grow more rapidly in lighted conditions. The snails were there to help consume the algae.

The real key to any biodegradable product breaking down isn’t the temperature of the water, but the presence of bacteria. Studies have shown that there are certain geographies where the presence of bacteria in the water in the winter is greater than the presence of bacteria in much warmer climates. In addition, our goal in conducting this demonstation was to run it at the lowest temperature possible that would support healthy marine life.

The tank was set up as normal saltwater tanks for an in-home acquarium, at a temperature target of 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Our goal was to create an environment in which marine life could exist and thrive. In addition, we wanted to be sure the temperatures were below the ASTM standards of 89 degrees Faherenheit as we wanted to be more challenging in this video capture.

Yes, we had snails in each tank as well.

Algae does not consume the cup, so it’s presence did not have an impact on the speed of biodegradation. In addition, bacteria does not eat algae, so it would not have impacted the biodegradation.

A small amount of liquid algaecide was added to help with the algae, but this is a common chemical used in managing Marine/Saltwater Fish Tanks. The chemical has no impact on marine life, and did not do anything to either accelerate or decellerate the disintegration process. Our goal was to make a realistic video of the biodegradation process. The algaecide was added to help us achieve that goal.

Marine life and fish tank specialists do not recommend that real ocean water be used in salt water fish tanks. The salt water for an indoor tank is always created (in a manner that mimics ocean salt water), which was done in these tanks. Our marine life specialist advised that real ocean water would harm the marine life in our experiment. Our goal in this experiment was to create a healthy environment where marine lilfe could live and to show the straw biodegrade in that environment.

All of that information can be found in the attached report from Keypoint Intelligence. Please refer to the report for this information.

The phade cup did sink to the bottom of the tank, but a small amount of sand was placed in the cup to keep it stable from moving.

No, they don’t. Most people don’t realize that paper cups are actually lined with plastic. This plastic is what keeps the liquid inside the cup. Without that lining, your beverage would quickly absorb into the paper, and your cup would turn to mush. However, when you line paper with plastic, the plastic stays around for a long time. Depending on the environment, a traditional paper cup takes anywhere from 20 years to 100 years to biodegrade. Think of it this way – when is the last time you saw any paper cup brand showing the market how they breakdown in a marine environment? You haven’t because they don’t.

We’ve all seen that horrible image of a sea turtle with a straw stuck in its nose. In many ways that image marked a turning point for awareness and alarm of global plastic pollution. It sparked a sense of outrage that something needed to be done about this problem. It marked a turning point for WinCup as well. We knew we could become part of the solution and embarked on a mission to develop an alternative to traditional plastic straws using emerging biopolymer technology, and the phade® straw is the result. New technologies will play a major role in solving global plastics challenges, and the phade® straw is just the first of many PHA-based solutions to come from WinCup. In the same way that the image of a sea turtle with a straw stuck in its nose became a symbol of the dire need to end plastic pollution, we hope that phade will become the symbol for the unlimited potential of innovative materials that can move our society away from its reliance on petro-plastics.

The proper way to dispose of a phade paper cup is through composting. A phade cup is home and industrial compostable, so it will completely biodegrade in either environment. phade cups should NEVER be disposed of in a marine environment; however, it was designed to be consumed by bacteria, so in the unfortunate circumstance where a phade cup might end up in an ocean, it will biodegrade because it will be consumed by the bacteria in the ocean.

The phade cup was filmed using one tank.

Yes, we included Clown Fish and Snails to the tank.

No. The fish and snail lived, and are currently pets for the Keypoint lab team in New Jersey!

Our goal was to create an environment where marine life could exist and thrive. Biodegradation is impacted by many factors, one of which is temperature. Higher temperatures generally speed up biodegradation. In this demonstration, we wanted to use the lowest temperature possible that would still support healthy marine life.

We added marine life to the tanks to create an environment that would represent what would happen if our cup ended up in a marine enviornment. Given marine life is present in the ocean, we wanted to make sure these fish and snails were sustained in our video. In addition, we wanted to be sure that all audiences could clearly see we did nothing to the water to make the video turn out the way it did (i.e adding caustic chemicals or anything to the tank to accellerate the biodegradation). The fish and snail enabled us to show this was a healthy environment for marine life, and that no harmful chemicals were added to the tanks.

Clown Fish

Algae. The algae that built up on the rocks also had a tendency to build up on the cup as well.

The biodegradation of a phade cup is always dependent on the conditions in the specific environment, specifically the presence and amount of bacteria in the environment. Since conditions are always different from one location to another, results will vary. However, we are confident that our cup will biodegrade in a matter of months in conditions where there is the presence of bacteria.

No. Biodegradation means that the cup completely goes away. The phade paper cup is entirely consumed and used by bacteria with only carbon dioxide, water and biomass (which represents the growth and reproduction of the bacteria that consumed the cup) remaining.

No. The tanks were set to optimally support marine life. That was clearly communicated by WinCup to Keypoint Intelligence and the Keypoint team executed to that objective.

WinCup engaged Keypoint Intelligence, a third party testing expert, to design and oversee the experiment. Keypoint consulted with a marine life expert and professional photographer in designing and setting up the experiment. The tanks were set up at Keypoint’s facility and monitored by Keypoint. At the end of the experiment, there were thousands of photographic images from the tanks. WinCup’s marketing firm, FINN Partners, used the images to produce the time lapse video. Refer to FINN’s statement of authenticity below.

The team found that sand covering the paper significantly slowed down the actual biodegredation process. Therefore, our team continued to lift the remaining wall of the cup up so that it would rest on the sand vs being covered. Interestingly, once the wall of the cup was uncovered, the Clown Fish would work to quickly cover the cup back up, either through brushing the sand with their tails, or occasionally spitting sand from their mouths. This caused our team to have to consistently lift the paper up so that the biodegredation would complete.