Unplastify Compass | Materials and suppliers guide

Materiality framework · traffic light

No material is superior: each option wins on something and shifts the problem elsewhere. The traffic light helps read those trade-offs across origin, composition and end-of-life management.

Pressed / molded pulp

Recommended

Renewable raw materials mixed with water and thermoformed with pressure and temperature. The products are compostable.

Origin: Renewable
End-of-life: Compostable

Aluminum

Recommended

100% recyclable metal with no loss of properties. In Argentina, secondary aluminum is ~37% of production, but only 7% of the market supply (vs 35% worldwide).

Origin: Non-renewable
End-of-life: Recyclable

Paper / cardboard / card stock

Recommended

Renewable origin, no plastic per se. Recyclable, biodegradable in landfill (depending on composition) or compostable. Choose products with the FSC label.

Origin: Renewable
End-of-life: Recyclable + Compostable

Glass

Recommended

Non-renewable origin (silica sand). Recyclable at the end of its useful life.

Origin: Non-renewable
End-of-life: Recyclable

Stainless steel

Recommended

Durable, 100% recyclable metal, the basis of reuse systems (bottles, trays, cutlery). Its impact is paid back through use: it makes sense in systems with many cycles, not in disposables.

Origin: Non-renewable
End-of-life: Recyclable

100% bio-based bioplastic — home compostable

Caution

Fully bio-based bioplastic whose end-of-life management does not require special conditions. Its degradation in landfill can be similar to that of a traditional plastic. Requires certification (OK Compost Home, DIN CERTCO).

Origin: Renewable
End-of-life: Home compostable

Poly-paper

Caution

Multilayer material that is not recycled today: there is no regional infrastructure to separate the plastic film from the paper. Work is underway on alternatives with compostable bioplastic lamination.

Origin: Renewable + Non-renewable
End-of-life: Sanitary landfill

Tetra Pak

Caution

Multilayer material recyclable through hydropulping or chipping, but only where infrastructure exists to receive and process it 100%.

Origin: Renewable + Non-renewable
End-of-life: Recyclable (if a plant can process it)

Recycled plastic (rPET / rHDPE / rPP)

Caution

Recovered and reprocessed fossil plastic. The EU requires it as minimum content in PET bottles (25% in 2025, 30% in 2030) and in other formats (10-35%). Brazil recycles more than 55% of its PET bottles, a real regional advantage.

Origin: Non-renewable
End-of-life: Recyclable

Bio-PE (renewable-origin polyethylene)

Caution

Polyethylene chemically identical to the fossil one but of renewable origin. The EU treats it the same as a conventional plastic for regulatory purposes, although its carbon footprint can be lower if audited. Reference: Braskem I'm green™.

Origin: Renewable
End-of-life: Recyclable (same as conventional PE)

Pure bamboo

Caution

Fast-growing resource, permitted in the EU with precautions on the migration of substances into food. Mainly useful in utensils and textiles; different from bamboo-melamine.

Origin: Renewable
End-of-life: Compostable / Recyclable depending on the product

100% bio-based bioplastic — industrial compostable

Critical

Requires specific pressure, temperature, humidity and pH conditions that are only ensured in industrial composting plants, not currently available in Argentina.

Origin: Renewable
End-of-life: Industrial compostable

Conventional disposable plastic

Critical (baseline)

Non-biodegradable fossil polymer. Baseline against which every alternative is compared. PS/EPS/PVC already banned in several EU uses.

Origin: Non-renewable
End-of-life: Sanitary landfill

Polystyrene (PS/EPS) and PVC

Critical

Fossil polymers with practically no recyclability in practice. Already banned or restricted in several food packaging uses in the EU.

Origin: Non-renewable
End-of-life: Sanitary landfill

Uncertified biodegradable

Critical

The 'biodegradable' claim without certification or specific end-of-life conditions has no technical basis and is today an explicitly restricted claim under European green claims regulation.

Origin: Variable (not verified)
End-of-life: Sanitary landfill (no evidence of real biodegradation)

This is a sample: 15 of the framework's 21 materials. The full version compares up to 4 materials side by side across 11 axes (regulation, greenwashing risk, regional opportunity and more).

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Preliminary guidance on where to look: it does not replace a life cycle analysis, a certification or legal advice. Always validate figures and regulations at the original source.