FAQ - PowerGranules BIO

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When a material breaks down with the help of microorganisms or enzymes into biomass, carbon dioxide, and water.

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The water turns green due to various components of PowerGranules BIO (calcium carbonate and natural dyes) which get released during washing. It’s perfectly normal and not a problem, as long as it doesn't stick to the washware.

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The wash water in a ware washing machine contains a lot of different debris that forms during the wash cycle. The debris is made up of both visible particles such as food scraps, and invisible substances such as rinse aids and detergents. The granules will wear a little every time you use them, resulting in visible dust. Both PowerGranules Original and PowerGranules BIO will wear and create dust, but the dust from the bio granules is more visible since it’s green.

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As you use the granules the surface gets worn which gives them a whitish look.

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PowerGranules BIO should be recycled as combustible waste.

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At present there is no way to separate regular plastic from biodegradable plastic at waste facilities, which is why we recommend rather recycling PowerGranuels BIO as combustible waste.

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Biodegradation starts with the help of microorganisms which live in soil. This is a slow process that takes time - even in nature, and with completely biological materials such as sticks or twigs. Smaller particles naturally degrade faster than bigger particles.

A whole granule will take longer time to degrade, and will therefore be visible in the compost for a longer time, in the same way as if you put a stick in the leaf compost.

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How fast the PowerGranules BIO wears is directly related to the handling. Daily cleaning is crucial, as the granules are biodegradable and eventually will start to degrade. The process will start if they are in contact with food particles and scraps, as those contain microorganisms - by sticking to the daily cleaning routine and removing food scraps and particles you can delay the degradation.

How long the granules last will vary from kitchen to kitchen, and depend much on how structured you are with daily cleaning. The estimated lifespan of PowerGranules BIO compared to PowerGranules Original is around 50-70 %.

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No, you shouldn’t mix them. PowerGranules Original is made from a harder and more resistant plastic (POM) and will wear the bio granules down much faster.

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Bacteria and microorganisms thrive in humid conditions, and they like it even better with food leftovers to snack on. If you don’t clean the machine, collect the granules, and let them dry outside of the machine this can kick off an early degradation of the bio granules.

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Contact Nordisk Clean Solutions.

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The machine will tell you when it's time to change the granules.

However, depending on how well you stick to daily cleaning routines, water quality at your site, and simply what items you wash might wear the granules faster, and cause an exchange to be needed before the machine alerts you. You will notice that it's time to change the granules when they get too small and start getting stuck in the grids and other places in the machine.

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Recommended shelf life of PowerGranules BIO is 2 years. You can still use them after the expiry date, but  they might degrade faster and last shorter. The durability also depends on how you store the granules. Avoid exposing them to moisture, heat, and light and they will last longer.

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The alkalinity should preferably be around 100 mg HCO₃/l, or above. The alkalinity level is linked to the hardness of the water. If you have hard or medium hard water (dH° >6), you normally have a good alkalinity level.

Note: alkalinity should not be confused with alkaline. Alkalinity does not depend on the pH of the water like alkaline, which is water with a pH above 8.

Desalinated water - i.e by reversed osmosis - often has low alkalinity and that can become a problem when using bio granules. A salt-based softener  - i.e Kinetico - where you use salt to reduce the hardness of the water, is normally not a problem in combination with bio granules.

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The particles generated during use, that leave the drain, are not considered microplastics.

The material has been tested according to ISO 17556, Biodegradation of plastic materials in soil, for 24 months and reached 94% degradation

(pass criteria: degradation of ≥ 90 % according to EU Regulation 2023/2055).

The whole granules are still microplastics, so you should avoid flushing them down the drain. 

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If you already have a Nor:disk Granule washer and want to start using PowerGranules BIO, you need to make a software update and then manually set the machine to PowerGranules BIO, which will set the cycle count to 1600 cycles.

Machines delivered from factory are built and programmed according to choice of starter granules: PowerGranules originals or PowerGranules BIO, automatically setting the cycle runtime to 1600 cycles for PowerGranules BIO and 2500 cycles for PowerGranules original (POM).