Materiais · Base biológica
Cultivado, usado, devolvido
O PHA e o PLA são polímeros cultivados a partir de plantas, não extraídos de poços. Após o serviço, os micróbios devolvem o corpo do cartão totalmente a CO₂ e água.
Para marcas que querem ir além dos aditivos, a chapa PHA/PLA é o autêntico: matéria-prima renovável, processamento de grau cartão e decomposição microbiana completa em condições de compostagem. Pede um compromisso honesto — o calor. O material amolece a 50–60 °C, pelo que o especificamos para programas de interior em climas temperados.
Destaques
Corpo verdadeiramente compostável
Os micróbios metabolizam o polímero por completo — os produtos finais são CO₂ e água.
Matéria-prima vegetal
Produzido a partir de fontes biológicas renováveis, não de resina fóssil.
Limites honestos
Amolece a 50–60 °C: perfeito em interiores, errado para envios de verão — e dizemo-lo.
PHA/PLA bio-based sheet — technical data
- Card body
- PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) / PLA (polylactic acid) — polymers derived from plant feedstock, not fossil resin
- Sheet range
- Card grade 80–350 μm in clear and white; coloured grades run to 400 μm
- End of life
- Fully broken down by naturally occurring microbes under compost conditions — final products CO₂ and water
- Mechanical strength
- Tensile strength ≥ 40 MPa (MD) — full card-grade stiffness in the hand
- Surface
- Double-sided matte, Rz 4–10 μm; wetting tension ≥ 38 dyn/cm — prints like PVC
- Heat limit
- Vicat softening 50–60 °C — the honest constraint: indoor use, no hot mailing, no dashboards
- Chip compatibility
- All 125 kHz and 13.56 MHz chips; standard CR80 laminated build
- Pedigree
- The same material family used in bio-based banking card programs
Inside a bio-based card
The build mirrors a standard laminated card — printed cores, inlay, overlay films — executed entirely in plant-derived polymer. The result behaves like a card in the hand and like plant matter in a compost stream: microbes metabolise the polymer completely, leaving CO₂ and water.
≈ 760 μm finished — card-standard feel, plant-standard chemistry
- Bio-polymer overlay · 65–100 μm Plant-derived clear film with waterborne adhesive
- PHA/PLA core · 80–350 μm Offset-printed front face, white or clear grade
- RFID inlay Chip + antenna — the only non-compostable grams in the card
- PHA/PLA core · 80–350 μm Back face
- Bio-polymer overlay · 65–100 μm Sealed back
When bio-based is the right call
- Your sustainability program wants feedstock change, not just end-of-life change: PHA/PLA starts from plants, not petroleum.
- Cards live indoors in temperate conditions — city hotels, spas, members’ clubs — comfortably inside the 50–60 °C limit.
- The guest story matters: “this card composts back to CO₂ and water” is the cleanest material claim in the industry.
Bio-based card questions
What exactly are PHA and PLA?
Both are polymers made by or from plants: PLA is polymerised from plant-sugar lactic acid, and PHA is produced by microorganisms as an energy store. Sheeted for cards, they laminate and print like conventional card stock — but microbes can metabolise them completely after disposal.
How is this different from your degradable PVC?
Two different philosophies. Degradable PVC is fossil-based PVC with an additive that accelerates breakdown in landfill — same feel, same 80–86 °C heat stability, same price class. PHA/PLA changes the feedstock itself to plants and composts fully to CO₂ and water, but softens at 50–60 °C and costs more. We supply both; the right pick depends on climate and brand claims.
Will a bio-based card survive daily hotel use?
Indoors, yes — stiffness and print durability are card-grade, and wet hands or bar spills are no problem. The real constraint is heat: at 50–60 °C the polymer softens, so avoid summer direct mail, parcel lockers and car dashboards. For hot climates we recommend PETG or degradable PVC instead.
Does the whole card compost, including the chip?
The polymer body does; the chip and antenna — a fraction of a gram of silicon and metal — do not. Under compost conditions the body breaks down to CO₂, water and biomass, leaving the tiny inlay, which desk-return programs can recover. No card on the market composts its silicon; we say so plainly.
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