SunChips Celebrates the World's First 100% Compostable Chip Bag

Today, on the eve of Earth Month, our SunChips brand is officially introducing the world’s first 100 percent compostable chip bag! The compostable bag can be found in market now and will be in full national distribution by Earth Day!  

The new 100 percent compostable bags are made with plant-based polylactic acid (PLA), a renewable material that also allows the bags to fully compost in approximately 14 weeks when placed in a hot, active compost bin. 

SunChips is also launching a national composting education initiative, which will be brought to life through partnerships with the U.S. Composting Council and Earth 911 -– two highly respected leaders within the sustainability movement -- to promote composting through educational materials, consumer outreach and other awareness-building activities.  SunChips hopes to reach more than one million American households directly through this effort.   

Additionally, SunChips is joining forces with Current TV for a unique program that challenges consumers to create videos that encourage positive change in the world and feature the SunChips compostable bag. The winning video will be selected by Current Chairman and co-founder Al Gore and is slated to air on national TV during Earth Week. 

Lastly, SunChips has recruited nationally recognized “green lifestyle” expert Sophie Uliano as an ambassador for the effort, and will heavily leverage SunChips packaging, point-of-sale displays, Web site and social media channels on Facebook and Twitter to encourage composting -- a truly comprehensive program.  

To kick off the composting awareness initiative, today, SunChips is hosting a unique, hands-on educational event in Los Angeles designed to demonstrate how consumers from all walks of life can come together with small steps of their own to create a big difference.  To accomplish this, SunChips is unveiling a 25x40 feet billboard representation of its 100 percent compostable bag, made out of hundreds of compostable tiles.  

At 2:00 p.m. Pacific today, Sophie Uliano, along with hundreds of consumers, kicked-off a large-scale composting demonstration that simulated the compostability of the SunChips bag by gradually removing the tiles from the world’s largest “compostable” billboard over the course of an hour.  The event, currently underway, is being recorded by the Current Network, and we'll share the video online as part of the nationwide education campaign.

Stay tuned for a recap of today's SunChips composting simulation in Los Angeles -- more coming to Snack Chat later this week!

- Kristin Holmes

Comments

[Jim Doherty]

What is the shelf life of this wonderfull bag? Also how much moisture can it stand? This could statr a trend, we can hope!

[Kristin]

Jim, thanks for your questions. Each bag of SunChips has a shelf life of 60-90 days, depending on where and when it's produced. The compostable bag will not break-down with water alone, but will break-down in a hot, active compost bin in about 14 weeks. Thanks again!

[Tara]

Congratulation on your 100% compostable chip package! I just heard about it in the Hy-Vee Seasons Ad. I was so excited to learn about it that I had to let you know of my support. Thank you for caring for our environment. Way to go Frito Lay. You rock!