Directors Talk, Confusion, Stir Magazine and Dumping Plastic Waste

Director’s Talk

I was asked to explain on television last week to a non-technical audience why oxo-biodegradable plastic was invented.  You can find the interview here

Confusion

I am hearing almost every day from governments and NGO’s that consumers are confused by the various types of biodegradable plastic available on the market. This is mainly due to their own failure to explain it properly and to control misdescription.

BIODEGRADABLE means that the plastic can be degraded by cell-mediated phenomena ie by bacteria and fungi.  There are two main types of biodegradable plastic –

A. tested according to EN13432 or ASTM D6400 to biodegrade in an industrial composting facility, and

B. tested according to ASTM D6954 or BS8472 to biodegrade if it gets into the open environment.

It would be confusing to describe a plastic as “biodegradable” without specifying whether it is type A or type B above.  Also, the Danish courts have decided that it would be seriously misleading to describe type A plastic as biodegradable without making it clear that it is tested to biodegrade in the special conditions found in an industrial composting facility (not in the open environment).

BIO-BASED plastics.  There is no official definition, but they consist of polymerised material from corn or other food-crops (often blended with petroleum-based material).  Some are and some are not biodegradable

BIOPLASTICS: Again there is no official definition, but there are two main types of bioplastics on the market today:

1. Bio-based plastics (because they have a biological content and/or because they are of a type which is biodegradable) and

2. Oxo-biodegradable plastics (because they are biodegradable)

COMPOSTABLE This is a description often applied to type A plastic, but it is misleading and should not be permitted. Yes, it will biodegrade to some extent in an industrial composting unit, but it does not convert into compost.  It is required by EN13432/ASTM D6400 to convert into CO₂ gas within 180 days. 

OXO-DEGRADATION is defined by CEN (the European Standards authority) in TR15351 as “degradation identified as resulting from oxidative cleavage of macromolecules.”  This describes ordinary plastics, which abiotically degrade by oxidation in the open environment, but do not become biodegradable except over a very long period of time.

OXO-BIODEGRADATION is defined by CEN as “degradation resulting from oxidative and cell-mediated phenomena, either simultaneously or successively”.  This means that the plastic degrades by oxidation until its molecular weight is low enough to be accessible to bacteria and fungi, who then recycle it back into nature.

Stir Magazine

I noticed an article in this magazine for the coffee and tea industry.  The caption to the photograph says: “Oxo-degradable plastics make up about 70% of marine litter in Europe.”  Clearly the author of this caption knows something that most people don’t.  As indicated above, “oxo-degradable” plastics are ordinary plastics, which abiotically degrade by oxidation in the open environment, but do not become biodegradable except over a very long period of time, and it is probably true that they make up about 70% of marine litter in Europe.  By contrast I am not aware that any oxo-biodegradable plastics have ever lasted long enough in the marine environment to be found by a researcher.

Dumping Plastic Waste

A Labour MP, Lyn Brown asked the UK Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on 19^th July 2021 “How the UK is still dumping plastic waste on the rest of the world, published by Greenpeace on the 17 May 2021, and what steps his Department is taking to reduce the UK’s plastic footprint.”  The implication here is that there is something wrong with exporting plastic waste.

If the UK cannot or will not process its own plastic waste, it makes sense to export it to a country which has the capacity to process it – by recycling or incineration. The focus of the UK government should therefore be not on banning the export, but on refusing to issue a licence to the exporter unless satisfied that it will be processed in a responsible manner, with due regard to human health and the environment.  If Greenpeace discovers that this is not being done the exporter would risk a very substantial fine.  The government of the receiving country has a corresponding obligation to ensure that the waste is processed responsibly if it wishes its people to benefit from this export trade.

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
• 30/06/21 – Recycling, Is the Use of Biobased Plastics Increasing, Confused Australians and Biodegradable Future
• 12/07/21 – EU Flawed Directive, Thailand and Pakistan (FREE)

Interview with Michael Stephen

• Questions and Answers on OXO-Biodegradability

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed here by Michael Stephen and other columnists are their own, not those of Bioplasticsnews.com.