CORRUPTION IN THE EU PARLIAMENT
Readers will recall that on 19th December 2022 I said I was not entirely surprised to see that a Vice-President of the European Parliament had been arrested for corruption, and that the homes and hotels of 18 MEPs and officials had been searched by the police, yielding suitcases stuffed with banknotes.
The reason I was not surprised is that I have never been able to understand how, in the absence of improper pressure, it was possible to impose a ban on “oxo-degradable” plastic products (by Art. 5 of the Single-use plastics Directive 2019/904) without any dossier from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) showing any justification for such a ban. To make matters worse, the Commission had actually asked ECHA (under Art 69 of the REACH Regulation) to study whether these products created microplastics. ECHA received hundreds of pages of evidence but were then instructed to by the Commission terminate the study, and the Parliament proceeded to legislate anyway.
This week I see that the Deputy director of Transparency International EU has been telling MEP’s that the Parliament’s internal decision-making body should be looked into, as the assembly lacks a serious sanctions regime for rule-breaking MEPs. He added that in the parliament’s last mandate, 24 violations of the code of conduct happened, but no sanctions were imposed.
He said that there is a “culture of impunity” in the parliament which contributed to the scandal that rocked the institution at the end of last year.
US COMPOSTING CONSORTIUM
I see that an American organisation called The Composting Consortium, has announced the launch of its “Compostable Packaging Degradation Pilot.” According to the consortium, the initiative is the most comprehensive collaborative study of real-world compostable packaging disintegration in the U.S. to date. It aims to improve available data on how certified, food-contact compostable foodware and packaging is currently breaking down at various types of composting facilities.
What is the point of this?
Even if they are able to show that “compostable” foodware and packaging is breaking down as intended in composting facilities (which it is probably not – see https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/1176729/) it will not be converting into compost or anything remotely useful for the soil. This is because ASTM D6400 requires it to convert into CO2 gas. There is nothing circular about this, as the material is simply being wasted. Also, because it has to be collected and taken to a composting facility it does not address the main plastics problem facing governments today – namely the plastic which gets into the environment and cannot be collected. The type of plastic designed to address that problem is oxo-biodegradable, which is tested according to ASTM D6954.
The UK Government is no longer supporting “compostable” plastic. It said in January 2023 that “Compostable plastics must be sent to an industrial composter for them to compost, so if littered in the open environment they will act much like any other plastic. In addition, because they are visibly indistinguishable from non-compostable plastics, even when they are sent to industrial composters there is no guarantee that they will not be stripped out at the start of the process and sent to landfill or incineration plants.”
GERMANY REJECTS CROP-BASED BIOFUELS
German environment minister Steffi Lemke has said she would soon send proposals to the cabinet for Germany to withdraw from the use of crop-based biofuels to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases. “Biofuels stand for land consumption and loss of biological diversity,” Lemke said “To replace only around 4% of fossil fuel use in German road transport, a land space is needed which represents about 20% of the German agricultural area. That is not future-orientated.”
The same can be said for using crops to make plastics, which the EU Commission is no longer supporting. It seemed quite a good idea a few years ago to use crops to make biofuels and plastic but it has proved to be an expensive fiasco, which is kept alive only by huge advertising and PR budgets.
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
- 12/12/22 – EU Talking About Biodegradable Plastic
- 19/12/22 – Corruption in the EU, Not so Compostable and Cry for Help
- 16/01/23 – Compostable Greenwashing, Home Composting – More Greenwashing
- 23/01/23 – Recycling Plastics, UK Government Will Not Support Compostable Plastic, Plastic Pacts Mislead Consumers
Interview with Michael Stephen
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed here by Michael Stephen and other columnists are their own, not those of Bioplasticsnews.com