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Oxo biodegradable industry responds

European Bioplastics is the lobby for hydro-biodegradable or “compostable” plastics.  It is not surprising that they are attacking oxo-biodegradable plastic, which is a strong competitor for their market-share.

It dismisses oxo-bio plastics because it says “it cannot be verified due to an absence of a standard specification”.

In fact, the Standard by which oxobiodegradable plastic can be tested for (a) degradability (b) biodegradability and (c) non eco-toxicity is the American Standard ASTM D6954-04.

CREATING MORE LITTER?

European Bioplastics also says oxo-bio could encourage people to create more litter in the ‘mistaken’ belief it will biodegrade.

If people would be encouraged to create more litter by using oxo-biodegradable plastic the same argument applies to the hydro-biodegradable plastic which EP is promoting.

However, there is not a shred of evidence that oxo or hydro plastic has encouraged people to litter.  Oxo-bio will harmlessly self-destruct if it gets into the open environment. Hydro-bio will not completely degrade unless someone collects it and puts it into a composting facility.

FRAGMENTS “ACCUMULATING IN THE ENVIRONMENT”:

European Bioplastics asserts that oxo-bio could cause greater pollution as the fragments will accumulate in the environment, inc marine and aquatic habitats. However, oxo-bio does not just fragment.
The fragments have been proved by scientific tests to biodegrade after the oxo-bio additive has reduced the molecular-weight to 40,000 Daltons or less.  It is then no longer a plastic, and biodegrades in the same way as leaves and straw.

EB also said it “fought against the attempt of the ‘oxo-biodegradable’ industry to water-down the criteria of the EN 13432, requesting longer timeframes for materials to decompose”.

THE ISSUE OF DEGRADABILITY STANDARDS:

In fact, it fought to prevent the amendment of EN13432 because it has a commercial interest against a European Standard with tests appropriate to oxo-bio. Composting is not the same as biodegradation in the environment - it is an artificial process operated according to a much shorter timescale than the processes of nature.

Therefore, Standards such as EN13432, ISO 17088,  and their American (ASTM D6400) and Australian (AS 4736-2006) equivalents, designed for compostable plastic, cannot be used for plastic which is designed to biodegrade if it gets into the environment. The hydrobio industry has consistently lobbied for standards and legislation which give its product an artificial advantage, and has consistently blocked proposals for change.

Composting of organic waste makes sense, but compostable plastic does not.  It is up to 400% more expensive than ordinary plastic. It is thicker and heavier and requires more trucks to transport it.

Recycling with oil-based plastics is impossible; it uses scarce land and water resources to produce the raw material, and substantial amounts of hydro-carbons are burned and CO2 emitted, by the tractors and other machines employed.  If buried in landfill, compostable plastic will emit methane (a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than CO2) in anaerobic conditions.  It is definitely not a “green” alternative.

Please note that this is a statement by Symphony which in the interests of fairness we feel an obligation to publish.  It cannot be seen as the opinion of the publishers of this magazine!