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Plasticized paper
Instructions
Even though paper is the main portion of this packaging material, it is covered with a thin film of plastic, on one side, and therefore a mixed-materials waste item. Plasticized paper must be placed in the (grey) landfill cart in Berkeley.
Alternatives
There are basically no commercial alternatives to the qualities of plasticized paper. The plastic is laminated to the paper, to create a liquid resistant barrier.
Facts
At one time this liquid resistant barrier might have been a wax substance (on butcher paper, fish wrapping paper, meat wrapping paper, butter cartons, paperboard milk cartons, liquid-resistant packaging, plastic-coated paper, waxy paperboard containers, etc.), but cheap fossil-fuel based (fracked), more efficient plastic has replaced that wax barrier, in most cases.
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