Environmental Technologies as Investment Opportunities

Packaging Europe News – Environmental Technologies as Investment Opportunities.

While oxo degradation will cause plastics to fragment over time under special conditions, there is nothing in them to cause biodegradation of the fragments.   Proof of biodegradation by an ASTM type test are quite common yet oxodegradable plastics cannot show they biodegrade under these tests.

An oxo works by causing a slow chemical reaction that causes the plastic molecules to cleave apart into smaller and smaller and smaller parts.   This can make a plastic bag on the ground appear to disappear as the fragments get quite small and blow or wash away, making a passer by think the bag has gone.   But these fragments are still around and are now of a size that wildlife are more likely to eat.  Like making a plastic fragment soup in our environment.

Secondly, oxodegradable plastics cannot be main stream recycled as the additive will pollute the new product that the user may not want to fragment down.  The oxo additive manufacturers will claim their product can be recycled but that is misleading, they cannot be main stream recycled.  There are no identifiers  put on the plastic to allow the recycling sorters to pull aside oxodegradable plastics.   The best way to get rid of an oxodegradable plastic is to incinerate it.  Then if you are incinerating it why put the additive in it in the first place?

Thirdly, an oxodegradable plastic will not break down in a landfill.  it needs oxygen (and often sunlight) for the chemical reaction to proceed.  Those are not in landfill, which means the bags will remain like a conventional bag and not break down.  The oxo additive manufacturers even mention this on their websites.

Mr Stephen was quite correct there is a big opportunity for controlling plastic waste with biodegradable plastics as plastic waste is a huge problem getting worse every year.   However oxodegradable additives as they are cannot do this.  There are other additives around such as a landfill biodegradable additive that does allow a plastic to actually biodegrade in a landfill.  Since about 90% of plastic in the West goes to landfills this type of additive makes more sense to use in many places.  A landfill biodegradable additive does not work where there are no bacteria however as it is natural bacteria that digest the plastic.  No would a landfill biodegradable additive do anything for litter that was left lying around, but at least they would not cause the plastic to fragment into lots of small pieces that can do more harm.   Currently there is no one solution and any one marketing their product as such is not providing the full story.