Why we should be banning the use of Oxodegradable additives for plastic waste control

An oxo additive is an additive that when added to plastic causes the plastic to fragment into little pieces over a 1 to 2 year time frame when in the air.  The manufacturers of these additives claim that this is a good way to get rid of plastic waste.  There are a number of problems with these additives however that the manufacturers do not mention and more than likely make the environmental problem worse by having many little peices of plastic loose in the environment.

As posted on Linked-In recently.

Oxo additives have had their use severely restricted in Belgium and Italy.  The references are;
Belgium ( in dutch) http://www.health.belgium.be/eportal/Environment/Environnement/15332533?ie2Term=biomaterialen&ie2section=83
and
http://www.belgium.be/nl/nieuws/2008/news_KB_biomaterialen.jsp

For Italy : Decreto-Legge 25 gennaio 2012, n. 2 refer to http://www.ambientediritto.it/home/legislazione/decreto-legge-25-gennaio-2012-n-2
Italian Decree Tightens Plastic Bag Laws: Introduces Hefty Sanctions in Accordance with “Polluter Pays” Principle & Requires Bags to Meet EN 13432:2002. A new Italian decree strengthens plastic bag laws in the country, and in accordance with the “polluter pays” principle, imposes €2500 – €25,000 (USD $3300 – $33,000) sanctions on those who violate the law. Deemed as “Extraordinary and Urgent Measures for the Environment,” the decree was issued on January 25, 2012, and amends previous plastic bag laws (Law 296 passed in 2006, reconfirmed in December 2010 with enactment date of January 1st, 2011) to also require that single-use disposable bags meet and follow European standards for compostability (EN 13432:2002).

This environmental action by the Italian government will also help protect consumers by ensuring that only certified compostable bioplastic bags are used, and imposters with false claims of biodegradability will not be allowed. In the Italian decree, the government states the importance of adopting a measure that “defines the technical characteristics of bags” to ensure consistency. An important distinction is that EN 13432:2002 does not allow for Oxo biodegradable plastic (OXOs).

OXOs are additives that are mixed with traditional plastics, and the makers claim that these additives speed up the degradation of traditional plastics. This has been a hot topic in the plastics industry, largely because there is no evidence to support that this is true. Organizations such as European Bioplastics and the SPI Bioplastics Council have also taken anti-OXO stances. Read the position paper from the Bioplastics Council called “Council Supports European Bioplastics Position That ‘Oxo-biodegradable’ Technology’s Claims of Being Biodegradable are Scientifically Unsubstantiated,” to learn more.

The bottom line is that standards exist to determine compostability, and Italy as a country will only allow products such that have received DIN CERTCO certifications and meet the requirements of EN 13432:2002.

http://www.cereplast.com/italian-decree-tightens-plastic-bag-laws-introduces-hefty-sanctions-in-accordance-with-%E2%80%9Cpolluter-pays%E2%80%9D-principle-requires-bags-to-meet-en-134322002/

In California ithere is a lawsuit against the company that offers misleading information on its pacakaging:. http://audiovideoproducer.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=1736071-0

For more background refer to the Loughborough rapport:
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=EV0422_8858_FRP.pdf

(….) Oxo-degradable plastics are not suitable for recycling with main-stream plastics. The recyclate will contain oxo-degradable additives that will render the product more susceptible to degradation. Although the additive producers suggest that stabilisers can be added to protect against the oxo-degradable additives, it would be problematic for recyclers to determine how much stabiliser needs to be added and to what extent the oxo-degradable plastic has already degraded. On this basis it seems unreasonable to claim recyclability of oxo-degradable plastics in existing recycling streams. (…) The uncertainties surrounding the effect of oxo-degradable plastics on the conventional plastics recycling process means that the safest solution is to keep oxo-degradable plastics out of mainstream plastics recycling processes

The study concluded that incorporating additives into petroleum-based plastics to accelerate their degradation does not improve the environmental effects of the plastic because:

a. The length of time it takes for oxo-degradable plastics to first degrade and then biodegrade cannot be predicted accurately · The length of time it takes for oxo-degradable plastics to first degrade, then biodegrade, ultimately depends on the environmental conditions to which they are exposed. Although it is likely that oxo-degradable plastics will start to degrade between 2-5 years in the UK, it is unclear how long the material takes to biodegrade.

· Oxo-degradable plastics do not meet established composting standards, such as EN13432, though they do not claim to. Therefore, oxo-degradable plastics should not be disposed of in home or industrial composting facilities.

· As oxo-degradable plastics are not compostable (and as all types of plastics are likely to biodegrade given enough time), the term ‘biodegradable’ on oxo-degradable plastic packaging is meaningless and potentially confusing to consumers when choosing how best to dispose of the material.

b. Oxo-degradable plastics may have undesirable consequences on disposal facilities and the on natural environment

· The best means of disposal for oxo-degradable plastics is incineration, or if incineration is not available, then landfill is the next best option. Both of these options make the ‘degradable’ property of oxo-degradable plastics irrelevant.

For Q and A on the oxo degradable plastics refer to http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=EV0422_8865_OTH.pdf
Posted by Jan Noordegraaf