What is to be done with industrial sacks after use? How can they be reprocessed to reduce their environmental impact? Gascogne Sack has created GascoGreen® Natura, the first film-free organic paper sack which is recyclable, compostable, biodegradable, and certified OK compost, OK compost HOME and OK biodegradable SOIL*! This patent-pending sack, intended for all business sectors (construction materials, chemicals, food-processing, etc.), provides, for the first time, a sustainable solution to the problem of waste management.

Starting in the spring of 2012, the GascoGreen® Natura sack will be previewed by the Holcim group (one of the leading providers of construction materials worldwide), a long-term partner of Gascogne Sack.

GASCOGREEN® NATURA SACK, THE ECOLOGICAL SOLUTION FOR REPROCESSING WASTE
How to improve waste management? Limit the environmental impact of waste? How to reprocess waste? Today, waste management is a major concern for both consumers and manufacturers. Gascogne Sack, an innovative French manufacturer of industrial and consumer sacks, is highly committed to sustainable development, and has created the first recyclable, compostable and biodegradable organic paper sack: GascoGreen® Natura. The sack, for which a patent is being filed with the French Institute for Industrial Property (INPI), has been designed to offer a true waste management solution. Eighteen months of research and testing went into its development.

High expectations from the construction sector GascoGreen® Natura is intended for manufacturers from all business sectors (construction materials, chemicals, food-processing) and all countries (standards and technical grades meeting the requirements of European countries). Starting in the spring of 2012, the Holcim group (one of the leading suppliers of construction materials worldwide) will be using the GascoGreen® Natura sack for its “Premium Multi-Use” cement, an eco-designed product in the Cimcool range. This is a priority sector for Gascogne Sack on several levels. First, in terms of the market: it represents 61%* of all sacks sold (30% of which go to cement packaging). And second, in terms of needs: out of 31 million tonnes of site waste generated each year in France, 35,000 tonnes consist of sacks and coverings treated as ordinary waste, simply deposited in recycling centres or incinerated. Disposal facilities are often inadequate, either in number or capacity, or are simply ill-suited. And it is usually impossible to reprocess the waste, as in the case of the cement sack made of a double layer of kraft paper and a polyethylene-free film. This is necessary to preserve the product… but combining different materials prevents recycling.

AN ORGANIC, FILM-FREE SACK WITH COATING
GascoGreen® Natura is a valve sack made of PEFCTM certified natural kraft paper (brown or white) – a naturally ecological material – without the film usually present in traditional cement sacks, but coated instead. Thus, GascoGreen® Natura contains no film, whether of plant or fossil origin, nor any heavy metals. The sack complies with standard EN 13432. Like all paper base sacks by Gascogne Sack, GascoGreen® Natura is printed with water-based inks, in order to reduce adverse impact on nature.

These technical characteristics make the GascoGreen® Natura sack an entirely recyclable, biodegradable and compostable eco-product, offering total versatility in terms of reprocessing after its service life.

• RECYCLABLE
The GascoGreen® Natura sack can be reprocessed as waste. It can be removed from the waste cycle through the available processes and programmes, collected, treated and reused in the form of raw materials or products, in accordance with ISO 14021*.

• BIODEGRADABLE
After use, the GascoGreen® Natura sack can be broken down naturally by living organisms. Thorough laboratory tests have shown that GascoGreen® Natura disintegrates within less than 12 weeks in an industrial composting facility.

• COMPOSTABLE
The GascoGreen® Natura sack can be broken down organically, thereby generating a fairly homogeneous, stable and humid-type substance (ISO 14021 standard) which improves soil fertility. Composting significantly reduces the volume of organic waste.
A compostable product is biodegradable, and its added value is that it improves the fertility of the soil as it decomposes. Moreover, when compost is too compact, paper needs to be added to aerate the humus pile.

• GUARANTEED BY LABELS AND CERTIFICATIONS THE ONLY SACK CERTIFIED OK COMPOST AND OK COMPOST HOME
OK compost certification (EN 13432): composting significantly reduces the volume of organic waste. Moreover, the compost produced can be salvaged for reuse in agriculture and horticulture. Any packaging or product bearing the OK compost label is guaranteed to be biodegradable in an industrial composting facility. This applies to all components, inks and additives. OK compost HOME certification: the temperature in a garden compost pile is much lower and less constant than in an industrial composting environment. The OK compost HOME label guarantees total biodegradability, based on specific  requirements, even in a home composting system. OK biodegradable SOIL certification for the GascoGreen® Natura sack designed for the cement sack market. This label guarantees that the product is 100% biodegradable in soil and has no adverse impact on the environment.

A NATURALLY ECOLOGICAL PAPER
The PEFCTM certification
GascoGreen® Natura is made of PEFCTM certified natural kraft paper. This label guarantees that the paper consists of fibres from sustainably managed forests and thus contributes to forest conservation.

Gascogne Sack strives to limit its products’ environmental impact at every stage in their life, from the time they are raw materials to the end of their service life or production.

• HIGH PERFORMANCE
Durability: the coating has a water repelling effect, which provides a good barrier against water and better protection of the inks used in the printed visual on the bag, over time.

Preservation: GascoGreen® Natura offers preservation properties equivalent to those of the traditional film sack under palette wrapping.

Less impact on the environment: GascoGreen® Natura offers the dual advantage of not using film from plant or fossil materials, while also being reprocessable as waste.

• ADAPTABLE
GascoGreen® Natura can be used on the entire bagging line at industrial production rates. No special machines are required for its use. In the spring of 2012, the Holcim group, a leading supplier of construction materials worldwide and long-term partner of Gascogne Sack, will be the first to use the GascoGreen® Natura sack for its “Premium Multi-Use” cement, an eco-designed product in the Cimcool range. The two manufacturers have worked together since 1952, i.e. almost since the creation of Gascogne Sack, with a shared commitment to sustainable development.

HOLCIM “PREMIUM MULTI-USE”, ECO-RESPONSIBLE AND ECODESIGNED CEMENT
“Premium Multi-Use”, a top quality cement, is designed to be much more environmentally-friendly than traditional cement. Premium Multi-Use cement complies with French standard CE-NF, and is composed of at least 36% co-products from other industries, such as blast furnace slag. This approach preserves natural resources and considerably reduces the CO2 emissions, while improving the product’s technical performance, offering, for example, better long-term resistance to compression.

In its aim to expand its environmental approach and offer an ecodesigned product, Holcim France has chosen to market this cement in a recyclable and biodegradable sack produced by Gascogne Sack. This sack offers total versatility in terms of reprocessing at the end of its service life.

Holcim is the first cement manufacturer in France to market its product in this 100% recyclable new-generation sack.

“Premium Multi-Use” is suited to all purposes: paving, mounting walls, spread footing, etc. It is a highly versatile material, offering optimised ease of use and improved performance.

CIMCOOL, THE HOLCIM FRANCE RANGE OF ECO-RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTS
CO2 emission is inherent in the process for manufacturing clinker, a key component of cement. Holcim has been developing more environmentally-friendly composite cements for many years. These products make up the Cimcool range, in which Premium Multi-Use cement is a valued item.

This approach has allowed Holcim to become the uncontested French leader in the production of composite cements and binders with a clinker substitution rate of more than 35%. All Holcim France cement plants are also certified ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

GASCOGNE GROUP: LONG-STANDING COMMITMENT AND RESPONSIBILITY REGARDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Gascogne Sack, a subsidiary of Gascogne group. Economy, social, environment: by emphasising these three principles as part of a continuous improvement programme, Gascogne has asserted its commitment to sustainable development.
• A group founded in 1925 by foresters.
• Management required to preserve and maintain a renewable resource: the Landes forest.
• Pioneer in forestry certification: PEFCTM (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) multi-site PEFCTM certified control chains, promoting certified products.
• Environmental and social vigilance in industrial activities
• A driven environmental policy and products that are naturally environmentally friendly and « ecoinnovative ».

For more information visit www.gascognesack.com