Biodegradable plastics: the way ahead – India

Biodegradable plastics: the way ahead | Business Standard.

The above article was many errors in it.  When talks about biodegradable plastic are made there has to be clear distinction made between how and where the biodegradation will occur.    Oxo or photodegradable plastics are degradable, not biodegradable.  Degradable is the breakdown by a chemical reaction into small plastic fragments.  Biodegradable is a biological process whereby naturally occurring microorganisms digest the plastic.  Two very different process and often confused by people who do not understand.  Oxo degradable is nothing to do with biodegradable.  Oxo degradation will only occur for a littered item on the ground in sunlight over a couple of years.  No one should encourage leaving litter around for a couple of years.  Oxo degradable is not mainstream recyclable either.   To dispose of an oxodegradable product requires for it to be incinerated in reality.

Compostable plastics are plastics that do biodegrade but only under specific conditions maintained in a commercial compost facility.  If those conditions are not met, the plastic will not biodegrade.   Since very few people in the world have access to a commercial compost facility, then compostable plastic is of little benefit to anyone.

There are additives called landfill biodegradable that when added to a plastic will allow the plastic to biodegrade over a few years in a landfill.  These additives seem to have the most merit for the elimination of plastic waste accumulation in a landfill.   They do nothing to address the litter of plastic.