Covid – Plastic to the Rescue
The entire public bus system in the city of Guarulhos, Brazil -858 vehicles in total with 400,000 regular users – will soon be protected against viruses, fungi, and bacteria with d2p anti-microbial film covering the internal surfaces
The film is being supplied by a Brazilian company Extrusa Pack who said: “We wanted to contribute in some way to tackling the pandemic, and as we already manufacture garbage bags with this important antimicrobial technology, we only needed to adjust the factory equipment to produce the protective plastic film.”
Guarulhos has become the first city in the world to use anti-microbial plastic film in its public transport system. The technology can also be used to protect water pipes and tanks, and all plastic surfaces in hospitals, restaurants, schools, airports and any other public spaces, as well as private homes. d2p antimicrobial masterbatch (www.d2p.net ) has been tested by Unicamp University in Brazil to be 99.9% effective within one hour of contact with the microbes.
Guarulhos is the second largest municipality in the State of São Paulo and 13th in Brazil in terms of population, with 1,379,182 inhabitants.
More News from Brazil
One of Brazil’s supermarket chains, Cotripal, started in September 2020 to use plastic shopping bags made with d2p antimicrobial technology to protect its customers from infection, and also with d2w biodegradable technology (www.d2w.net) in case any of the bags should escape into the open environment, where they will biodegrade much more quickly.
Six months later, Cotripal made a customer survey, which showed that the new bags have had an excellent acceptance by their customers. They perceived greater care by the supermarket for the safety and health of everyone and for the environment. Cotripal said that this perception goes beyond customers, and includes supermarket employees and all those who come into contact with the bags.
Cotripal also said that it is pleased with its investment in the bags, as they not only protect employees, customers and everyone involved in using them, but the company can demonstrate to the whole community not only its concern, but also its effective action, in the fight against coronavirus and plastic pollution – thereby reinforcing the value of its brand.
Michael Stephen
Michael Stephen is a lawyer and was a member of the United Kingdom Parliament, where he served on the Environment Select Committee. When he left Parliament Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc. attracted his attention because of his interest in the environment. He is now Deputy Chairman of Symphony, which is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, and is the founder and Chairman of the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association.
Earlier Postings in this Column
- 1/ 1/ 20 – Plastiphobia, Microplastics and A Throw-Away Society
- 7/ 1/ 20 – Recycling, Lab Testing, Bangladesh and the Right Bioplastic
- 14/1/20 – Plastiphobia and Bioplastics Definitions
- 21/1/20 – Composting, the European Union and Unemployment
- 30/1/20 – Plastiphobia, Malaysia and a Case Against Compostables and Paper
- 7/02/20 – Coronavirus, MPs Letter, Montreal, Australia and the Dominican Republic
- 14/02/20 – Oman, MacArthur Foundation, Stifling Innovation, South Africa and Compostable Plastics
- 24/02/20 – Serbia, India, Pakistan and European Bioplastics
- 03/03/20 – Plastic To Protect Health and Common Sense on Plastic
- 10/03/20 – Plastiphobia, Singapore, Compostable Plastics, Doorknobs and Carbios
- 17/03/20 – Greening our Way to Infection, Defra Warns Against Bioplastics and Montreal
- 24/03/20 – Ditch the Plastic Bag Ban and Inn-Probio
- 01/04/20 – The Come Back of Plastic Bags, Compostable Plastic Not Wanted and EASAC
- 16/04/20 – Coronavirus and Agricultural Plastics
- 11/05/20 – Coronavirus, Peru, Barbados and Recycling
- 18/05/20 – Say No to Plastiphobia, False Descriptions and the Recycling Myth
- 02/06/20 – Definitions and More Setbacks for Plastiphobia
- 11/06/20 – BBIA, Food Waste and Testing of OXO-Biodegradable Plastic
- 19/06/20 – Oxo Biodegradation, Independent Reports and Precautionary Principle
- 29/06/20 – Banana Republic, Why Turn Plastic into CO2 and Plastic Waste from Ships
- 13/07/20 – Running Scared, The Daily Telegraph and Market Report
- 20/07/202 – Tipa, Plastics Today and The American Genius
- 27/07/20 – Coronavirus, Plastic Litter, Bahrain and Polymateria
- 17/08/20 – Plastics Europe, Confusing Issues and Paper
- 25/08/20 – Professor Emo Chiellini, Plastics Today, Greenwashing and Coronavirus
- 28/09/20 – Kill the Virus, Marine Degradation, Airports, Brazil Retail, Plastic Growth and Face Mask
- 08/10/20 – Compostable vs Biodegradable, Covid 19 and New British Bioplastic Standard
- 27/10/20 – Power of Lobbying, Paper and Cotton Worse than Plastic
- 02/11/20 – Covid 19 and Five Myths About Plastic
- 09/11/20 – Support for OXO BIO, Westminster Forum, Euractiv and Covid
- 23/11/20 – Toxicity of Bio-based and Biodegradable Plastics, and Covid Scaremongering
- 15/12/20 – Recycling and An Article from Austria
- 21/12/20 – EU Scientific Advisers, China Chose Wrong Bioplastics and Covid Nonsense
- 05/01/20 – EU, Covid Lockdowns, WRAP, British Standards Institution and Polymateria
- 12/01/21 – Intertek and Composting
- 19/01/21 – Recycling and Exporting Plastic Waste
- 22/02/21 – Seaweed Plastic, Orange Peel and Xampla
- 02/03/31 – OXO Biodegradable Plastic
- 08/03/21 – EU Scientific Reports and Paper vs Plastic
- 15/03/21 – India, Australia and Dow Chemicals
- 14/04/21 – Oxomar, UK Government and Microplastics
- 26/04/21 – Plastic to the Rescue of Covid and More News from Brazil
- 04/05/21 – Packaging Digest
- 07/06/21 – Minderoo Report and Korea Herald
Interview with Michael Stephen
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed here by Michael Stephen and other columnists are their own, not those of Bioplasticsnews.com.