At Aquapak, we’re pioneering the use of Hydropol™, a unique water-soluble polymer designed to deliver performance, recyclability and environmental benefits that conventional plastics cannot match.
This FAQ hub brings together answers to the most common questions we receive about our technology, its impact at end-of-life, and the science behind it. Whether you’re a brand owner, packaging converter, or sustainability leader, you’ll find clear, evidence-based guidance here.
# General
Our general FAQs cover Aquapak as a company, Hydropol’s key properties, and how our technology can be applied across different packaging formats and industries. If you’re new to Aquapak or looking for a quick overview, this is the place to start.The PVOH used to make Hydropol is currently based on fossil-fuel feedstocks.
However there is a straightforward route to PVOH from bioethanol which is currently only constrained by demand. As soon as volume increases, costs can come down and PVOH manufacturers will have a 100% bio version.
Although Hydropol is not yet the perfect solution, it is progress towards one. At Aquapak we are several years into a project to enable our transition towards another route to bio PVOH and hope to patent this shortly.
In the US PVOH is also commonly known as PVA. Both are abbreviations for Polyvinyl Alcohol. PVA glue is a specific formulation for adhesives and is not the same.
PVOH is inherently biocompatible, biodegradable and used in a wide range of applications, including industrial, medical, pharmaceutical, textile/ paper and food. More commonly, it is used as a film for detergent pods.
PVOH complies with strict regulatory requirements in many of these sectors. For example, in the cosmetic sector products utilising the benefits of PVOH include skin care masks, colour cosmetics, sun care and hair care.
PVOH is also approved safe by chemical agencies such as EU ECHA, FDA and Health Canada for food packaging. Additional applications include cartilage replacements, contact lenses and eye drops, drug delivery systems and a component of food supplements as it is odourless, tasteless, and non-toxic.
Aquapak has perfected the thermal processing of polyvinyl alcohol to enable the production of Hydropol pellets for use in multiple applications. The global IP covers both the process and the special formulation chemistry. This has opened up the availability of a highly functional material with a number of viable end of life options – traditional plastics simply don’t have these combinations of properties.
Normally polyvinyl alcohol is restricted to a limited number of applications because of its processing problems, and in many cases must be combined with other polymers to make a usable formulation. Often this combination compromises the base properties and restricts its use even further.
Interestingly evaluation of Hydropol in several applications has concluded that the special thermal process to create the pellet improves the properties (strength and barrier) of the final material.
Hydropol resin pellets are made at Aquapak’s production site in Birmingham and sent to converters around the world who use it to produce sustainable paper packaging, films and nonwoven fibres.
Yes, fibres have been successfully produced via multifilament extrusion and nonwovens have been successfully manufactured via meltblowing and spunbond processes.
Yes, the level of hydrolysis can be accurately engineered so that Hydropol does not dissolve when in contact with water during processing creating soft, drapable and strong nonwoven substrates.
Yes, Hydropol can be printed on and due to its high polarity and surface energy it does not require corona or other surface treatments.
Hydropol is very compatible with many other plastics and materials. It is particularly compatible with cellulosic materials such as paper. However, it’s use as a strength and barrier combination with both traditional plastics and bioplastics opens the potential to retain or enhance primary properties and have a viable route to recycling or composting and anaerobic digestion
# End-Of-Life
End-of-life questions focus on what happens to Hydropol products once they’ve been used. Here we address recyclability, biodegradability, compatibility with existing waste streams, and the difference between Hydropol and other materials such as compostable plastics.Under industrial composting conditions 15-20 micron film (depending on grade) is expected to pass EN13432 criteria which requires for sample to disintegrate after 12 weeks and completely biodegrade after 6 months.
Hydropol™ coated onto paper (60gsm at 25 microns) demonstrated 100% or full disintegration after only 2 weeks of home composting at ambient temperatures (20˚C – 30˚C). This testing complies with the French NF T51-800 (2015) and Australian AS 5810.
Under industrial composting conditions 100% or full disintegration occurs within 6 weeks, this because the fungi and bacteria used to breakdown Hydropol are more active at lower temperatures.
No. Paper mills are used to handling all sorts of non-paper materials that enter the recycling process. Inks, metals, staples, dispersion coatings, lacquers and plastics, can all be captured and separated.
The metal flakes away from the paper and is captured by the screens and filters of a paper mill. It is then separated from the pulp and incinerated / directed to reject stream.
The metal is vacuum deposited aluminium. A layer so thin it is measured in Angstroms, or fractions of a nanometre.
Yes, there are but in limited numbers. They are expensive and there are issues with biodegradable packaging, such as people wrongly putting it out with their recycling, where it can act as a contaminant. This could mean that affected items can no longer be recycled. The crisp packet is the first mainstream paper-based, scalable solution which is fully recyclable using domestic paper recycling services.
Crisp packets and many other flexible plastic packaging structures traditionally have several layers and are often made from polypropylene or polyethylene which can be difficult to separate. With significant differences in regional recycling infrastructures many crisp packets cannot go into domestic recycling bins, are not recycled at scale and often end up going to landfill or incineration.
Recent studies have also shown that many flexible packaging return-to-store schemes are limited in their ability to recycle effectively too. Read more on Everyday Plastic.
If the Hydropol crisp pack ends up in landfill rather than kerbside collection, it will biodegrade over time, without leaving harmful microplastics. We have focused our biodegradation work on land environments as Hydropol is water soluble, does not harm marine life or form harmful microplastics.
Under composing conditions 15-20 micron film (depending on grade) is expected to pass EN13432 criteria which requires for sample to disintegrate after 12 weeks and completely biodegrade after 6 months.
Under these conditions, Hydropol will breakdown into biomass, carbon dioxide and water. For crisp packets, the Hydropol gauge would be lower so we would expect the time to be reduced significantly.
Under landfill conditions, in the absence of oxygen, Hydropol will breakdown into biomass, methane, carbon dioxide and water, the test method does not stipulate time limitations, just that the material is converted into the gases which Hydropol does and so passes the standard.
Yes, it has been certified as recyclable in standard paper recycling mills by OPRL, which assesses recyclability by looking at how easy it is for consumers to put the packaging into recycling collections, whether the UK’s recycling infrastructure can handle that material/packaging combination, and whether there are markets for the resulting recyclate. Hydropol has no negative impact on paper recycling.
The green Recycle label means that 75% or more of UK local authorities collect this type of packaging through household recycling collections. It is then effectively sorted, processed, and sold as recyclate for use in new packaging or products.
Hydropol™ does not change the viscosity of wastewater, meaning it does not make the water thicker or harder to flow. According to an independent ecotoxicity study conducted by Heriot Watt University, it was concluded that the amount of Hydropol™ needed to alter the viscosity of water would not be feasible in real world conditions. Additionally, Hydropol™ safely biodegrades, breaking down into harmless substances like carbon dioxide, water, and organic matter.
Yes, Hydropol™ is biodegradable in water, and we have data to support this. Hydropol™ has been rigorously tested by an independent lab following international biodegradability standards. According to these tests, over 90% of the Hydropol™ fibers biodegraded within the prescribed test time, meeting the stringent requirements for certification in fresh water under the OK Biodegradable WATER certification (based on the ISO 14851 method, equivalent to ASTM D5271).
Additionally, further tests conducted by AquaEnviro showed that Hydropol™ performs well in industrial and municipal wastewater systems. We can confirm that Hydropol™ has a 5 Day Biochemical Oxygen Demand BOD5:COD between 0.1-0.4. This results indicate that Hydropol™ breaks down effectively, releasing harmless byproducts like carbon dioxide, water, and biomass, which ensures that it does not cause environmental harm or strain wastewater treatment facilities. This makes Hydropol™ a reliable and safe solution for environmentally friendly products.
Hydropol nonwoven wet wipes are biodegradable in freshwater within 8 weeks (ISO 14851 tested) at 40gsm.
Hydropol™ is soluble, non-toxic, marine safe and does not leave behind harmful microplastics. Products made with Hydropol™ are safe for existing recycling processes and are fully biodegradable, leaving no trace or plastic pollution should they enter the environment.
# Science
The science section explores the chemistry, processing and technical aspects of Hydropol. These FAQs explain how our polymers dissolve, how they behave in different conditions, and the research that underpins their safety and performance.Hydropol is a biodegradable polymer.
A Bioplastic is defined as being either bio-based, biodegradable, or a combination of both. A plastic is considered bio-based if its feedstock comes from renewable biomass source such as vegetable fats, cellulose, corn starch etc. A Bioplastic can be either fully or partially bio-based.
However, whilst it is an alternative raw material not derived from oil, it doesn’t mean that it is biodegradable.
For example, LDPE can be made from bio sources, but it’s end of life is exactly the same as LDPE made the traditional way from oil. Bioplastic does not mean biodegradable. And being oil based doesn’t mean that it can’t be biodegradable.
A polymer is a large molecule, made from connecting many small molecules called monomers. Polymers are very common and can be naturally occurring, like starch, cellulose, rubber and protein – or can be man-made, like plastic and some fibres.
All plastics are made of polymers, but not all polymers are plastic.
In this case of polymer degradation, the term mineralisation indicates a natural biological breakdown step of the carbon in the polymer to carbon dioxide and water. So, via a process of oxidation the polymer breaks down via chain breaking to form smaller oxidised polymer chains (mineralised biomass) which then break down further to carbon dioxide and water. Hydropol does not yield any harmful products in any stage of breakdown and biodegradation.
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) is a water-soluble polymer, sold in both fully and partially hydrolyzed forms. Its technical properties vary depending on molecular weight (degree of polymerization) and fraction of acetate groups that are removed (degree of hydrolysis).
Most of the commonly used traditional plastics like PE are hydrophobic i.e. attracted to oil or other water repelling materials. This hydrophobic property does cause issues in the environment by attracting often hazardous and toxic products to them, as products such as pesticide residues etc. are also hydrophobic. It also makes them very durable in the natural environment taking 10’s-1000’s of years to fully biodegrade.
Hydropol is hydrophilic and a hydrophilic polymer is attracted to water and in the right conditions (temperature, agitation etc.) will be dissolved in water. This property is important in enhancing biodegradation and other properties such as compatibility with other materials such as cellulose.