RECYCLING
Recycling is often used as an objection to making plastic degradable, but this is not a well-founded objection, for the reasons given at https://www.biodeg.org/subjects-of-interest/recycling-2/
Recycling does not however address the principal concern about plastics around the world – how to deal with the plastic which has escaped into the oceans and elsewhere in the open environment from which it cannot realistically be collected, and therefore accumulates every day for many decades.
It is obvious that you cannot recycle plastic unless it has been collected.
Even if the plastic can be collected, Greenpeace reported in October 2022 (Circular Claims Fall Flat Again) that “mechanical and chemical recycling of plastic waste fails because plastic waste is extremely difficult to collect, virtually impossible to sort for recycling, environmentally harmful to reprocess, often made of and contaminated by toxic materials, and not economical to recycle.”
Pro-oxidant masterbatches such as d2w should therefore be put into the manufacture of ordinary PE and PP products to make them biodegradable at the end of their useful life, so that they will not lie or float around for decades if they don’t get collected for recycling. These masterbatches are not put into PET.
PLASTIC EXPORTS
I don’t agree with the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament, who want to ban plastic waste exports. Of course we don’t want it being illegally dumped and burned abroad, but we don’t want it filling up our landfills either.
If plastic can be collected it should ideally be re-used or recycled, but as Greenpeace has said (see above) recycling of most types of plastic is not practicable, especially for low-value, contaminated packaging. It should therefore be used as a fuel for modern non-polluting incinerators, such as the one in Zurich, where they generate electricity with the energy produced.
In case it does not get collected the plastic should be made with d2w, so that it will quickly biodegrade if it gets into the open environment.
Until we can increase sufficiently the capacity for recycling and incineration in the UK, the plastic should be exported to other countries who are willing to process it. This means making an agreement with the government of the country concerned for processing it correctly, and insisting upon an audit-trail. The NGOs would be sure to alert the UK government to any breach of this agreement, and exports to that country would cease until the problem had been rectified.
ANTIMICROBIALS
I notice that the UN has designated this week as “World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022”
People need to be aware that plastic can be given antimicrobial properties, to kill the bacteria and viruses coming into contact with it, before they get into our bodies and have to be fought with antibiotics. See www.d2p.net
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
- 30/08/22 – Recycling and Food Waste
- 07/09/22 – Microplastics, Environmental Footprints and Coffee Waste
- 21/09/22 – DEFRA
- 4/10/22 – Agricultural Film and Global Plastic Treaty
- 10/10/2022 – Anti-Plastic Zealots
- 17/10/22 – Innovation and the United Nations
- 31/10/22 – Defra Finally Complies with Disclosure Order
- 7/11/22 – Time to Ban Compostable Plastics? Also SUP Legislation in Wales and Scotland
Interview with Michael Stephen
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed here by Michael Stephen and other columnists are their own, not those of Bioplasticsnews.com