Guilt-free snacking: UK farmers produce energy-making potato crisps in a fully compostable packet

As one of the world’s most popular takeaway snacks, billions of packets of crisps are consumed every year, with most of them unable to be recycled and ending up in landfill. Now, a farm in the U.K. says it’s on a mission to make the humble packet of crisps a more eco-friendly choice, using fully compostable packaging and a production process that powers both the farm and the local electricity grid. Globally, the potato chips market was worth $34.3 billion in 2023 according to the IMARC Group research consultancy. Packaging for the ubiquitous snack has traditionally been made using non-recyclable plastics, which can take around 80 years to decompose. But the British makers of these packs of crisps say they have the solution. While these bags may look like any other crisp bag, they are in fact fully compostable within 26 weeks. Sean Mason, farmer and co-founder of Two Farmers, says, “This is 100% cellulose film. It’s the only fully compostable crisp packet that we know of. This took us four years to develop and we’re now on to our third generation and we’re actually trying a fourth generation and trying to extend shelf life. Whatever you do with this packet, it will break down, it will dissolve back into water, carbon dioxide and biomass.” A fully compostable crisp packet is one of several measures the farm is taking to adopt an ultra-sustainable food production approach. In order to achieve that, the journey of the farm’s crisps begins and ends on the farm where potatoes are grown, stored, cooked and packed, giving the farmers control over each stage in the process. Mark Green, co-founder of Two Farmers, says, “We're growing lots of crops on our farm. Potatoes, cereals, beetroot and energy crops. But what we try to do is farm all of these intensively, but at the same time, we want to be environmentally friendly and sustainable in our farming business. So, since the early 2000s we’ve been looking at our soils and our cropping and how we can bring the two together to look after our soils and actually make sustainable farming with the intensive potato crop like this one here.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.