Recycling and Food Waste (FREE)

Recycling

The BPA has just published a revised and very detailed paper on recycling of plastics, showing clearly that d2w biodegradable PE and PP products can be safely recycled into short-life and long-life plastic products without separation from ordinary PE and PP. See Recycling  It is time that lobbyists stopped using recycling as an argument against this type of plastic.  It is essential to start using it to deal with the plastic which gets out into the open environment from which it cannot realistically be collected.

Food Waste

Food waste remains one of the most environmentally damaging phenomena on earth. Despite the continued concern over plastic’s ecological impact, the material plays a vital role in extending food shelf life and preventing rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Packaging is essential to ensuring that food products reach consumers and don’t end up needlessly wasted, resulting in increased GHG emissions associated with production, transportation and rotting produce.  Symphony Environmental can make plastic packaging even better, by including ethylene and oxygen adsorbers in the plastic packaging, so as to remove the gases which cause the food to deteriorate.  See Designed to Protect   This cannot be done with paper or cardboard packaging.

If food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter behind China and the US, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

There is no need to use expensive plastic marketed as compostable, for this purpose. See Compostable Plastics  

In addition, plastic is the only material in common use which can be made antimicrobial, and Symphony’s d2p antimicrobial technology has been proved by testing in accordance with ISO 21072 to kill 99.9% of viruses within one hour of coming into contact with it. All single-use plastics should now be made with anti-microbial technology.

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 Biodegradable Plastics Association.

Earlier Postings in this Column

All articles of Michael Stephen can be found here

• 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
• 20/07/20 – 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
• 21/07/21 – Directors Talk, Confusion, Stir Magazine and Dumping Plastic Waste
• 02/08/21 – Angry Farmers, DEFRA and Substitutes for Plastic
• 06/09/21 – Microplastics
• 13/09/21 – UK Government, Defra and David Newman
• 20/09/21 – Michael Stephen Video Interview on Antimicrobial and Biodegradable Packaging
• 05/10/21 – Freedom of Information and Plastic Waste Solutions
• 14/10/21 – Michael Stephen at Pack4Change Summit
• 22/10/21 – Plastic from Algae and Carbon Dioxide
• 15/11/21 – Defra
• 22/11/21 – Defra, India, Food Service Footprint Magazine and Waste 360
• 30/11/21 – RWM Digital Spotlight and Plastiphobia
• 17/12/21 – Disposal in the Right Way and Defra Consultation Responses
• 04/01/22 – Precautionary Principle, Anti Oxo Campaign and Defra
• 11/01/22 – Microplastics
• 17/01/22 – Michael Laurier, A Saucy Problem and Unilever
• 21/02 /22 – No Alternative for Plastic
• 08/03/22 – Sustainable Agriculture, Canada, Consequence of Banning, United Nations
• 14/03/22 – Plastiphobia
• 04/04/22 – Virgin Mobile, Defra, OXO, Microplastics, End of Life Options
• 11/04/22 – Ellen MacArthur Foundation
• 09/05/22 – Response to Association of Plastic Recyclers
• 16/05/22 – Wrap and More Bad News for Compostable Plastics in UK Parliament
• 30/05/22 – A Threat to Humanity and Market Research
• 13/06/22 – Recycling, OECD and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
• 27/06/22 – Recyclass, Unilever, UK Plastic Packaging Tax
• 04/07/22 – Korea, Carbon 13 Study, Defra, Food Shortages and Biobased Plastics
• 09/08/22 – Oxford Analytica, Indonesia, Paper is not the Answer
• 16/08/22 – Video, Canada, The Guardian, Food Waste, Recycled vs Virgin Polymer
• 22/08/22 – Defra and Plastics in Agriculture (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.