Bioplastics and biodegradable packaging

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

A more sustainable solution? Maybe and then again maybe not.

Plastic packaging is all over the media at the moment and that in an incredibly negative light. Consumers have growing concerns about how plastic packaging is managed at end of life, and are worried about leakage into the ocean. This has brought in a focus on what can be done about plastic waste.

The most obvious option is to reduce the amount of plastic packaging, but simply from a cost point of view this has already been on the agenda for brands and retailers for many years. What we are mostly left with now is packaging that has been carefully designed for its function - but not always with end of life considerations.

So, what is the solution? Most logically, several steps must be taken:

1. Reduction of amount of packaging where possible;

2. Rationalization of polymer types used in packaging to simplify the sorting and recycling process;

3. Design packaging with understanding of how it will be handled at end of life;

4. More recycling infrastructure, funded and ultimately subsidized through Extended

Producer Responsibility schemes; and

5. Consumer engagement to ensure as much packaging as possible is captured for recycling

What could the role of bioplastics and biodegradable packaging be in all of this? Should we completely switch all packaging so that it is made from “bioplastics” and which is “biodegradable” so that it will disappear once disposed of and will be made from renewable resources?

The short answer to this is “no”. Bioplastics will certainly have a part to play in the future and in some instances today, but we need to make sure the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of such materials is more beneficial than oil based plastics. Oil is not going away anytime soon, and while we are still refining huge quantities for fuel, should we not make use of the plastic that can be produced from its by-products?

As for biodegradable packaging, this is a minefield of confusing messages and lack of transparency. Packaging that will readily degrade in a home composting system, or in the ocean, is great in theory, but ensuring it can do that and deliver product protection is not easy. Many food products need protection from oxygen and moisture, and material that easily breaks down cannot always achieve this. There is a balance to be found to produce polymers that will maintain integrity during product lifetime (which many include many months in warehouses or on shelves) but will readily degrade once the packaging is no longer needed.

Then you come to packaging that is compostable, but only in an industrial composting facility. This then brings same challenges as any other material that is collected for recycling, if not more, because the consumer now must understand a whole new category of packaging which needs its own special disposal route. For example, imagine the confusion if some drinks bottles needed to go in the regular plastic recycling bin while others went in the composting collection. In some closed, controlled systems this may work, but we must be mindful of how material is handled at end of life.

So in some instances a biopolymer or biodegradable pack may have a more positive environmental impact, but very careful consideration is needed before using these materials. It should not be assumed that just because “bio” is in the name, it is better for the planet.

Plastics are wonderful materials, which when used correctly can have massive positive impacts on our lives. There is no better time than now to think hard about the various options, whether that be designing for end of life, improving recycling infrastructure, or replacing current materials with biodegradable or compostable ones. The answer is not always straightforward.

The problem is that many so-called “bioplastics” are not as readily biodegradable and especially not compostable as they are claimed to be. In a marine environment they will not degrade and compost but simply break down, just as “ordinary” plastic packaging material, into microplastic particles which end up in marine life and the food chain.

As said above plastic can be very useful indeed and there is, if I may put it like that, good and bad plastic. There the the (good) products that we can use for many, many decades and which are made of a single kind of plastic that can, at the end of the product's life, be recycled – in theory at least, whether it happens is another story – and then there are the bad plastic products, which include many of the packaging materials that are either non-recyclable or very hard to recycle because, often, they are made of more than one plastic and often, in the case of foils, several different plastics laminated together.

The Tupperware box, the reusable plastic water bottle, such as De Dopper, and the reusable plastic coffee cup, such as KeepCup, are actually your friend, and the Planet's friend, and not the enemy, as are many other kinds of plastics. Not all plastic is bad. It all depends on the type and the use. The current hype about plastic being bad is totally out of context. The problem is what we do with the plastic and the real culprit is us and the single-use plastic products.

It would be better if we would, to some extent, go back to (more) natural materials but for many applications there simply is not another option.

© 2018

Surprise: Biodegradable plastic bags usually aren’t

Reducing waste is hard. Who really knows what packaging is safe to recycle or compost when labeling standards are weak, companies regularly get away with green fraud, and seemingly every city has a different sorting game to play with bins? Straightforward rules and enforceable standardization would certainly go a long way toward clearing things up.

Even with the confusion, most people agree plastic bags suck. Perhaps sensing that we’re finally catching on, plastic bag makers have unleashed the greenwashers to make tiny changes to their product (like add a little metal) and then make up stories about how the “new” bags just disappear like magic.

In 2010, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission proposed some recommendations for environmental marketing claims. Since then, the market-regulating agency has actually started actively eradicating eco-bullshit.

Last year, the FTC cracked down on unsubstantiated claims of “biodegradable” and “compostable” bags. The Guardian’s Circular Economy series updates us on the latest distorted marketing word, “oxodegradable”:

Last month, the FTC sent warning letters to 15 additional marketers, informing them that their claims “may be deceptive”. The FTC also requested “competent and reliable scientific evidence proving that their bags will biodegrade as advertised”. This time, the term of offense is “oxodegradable”, implying the bag will break down in time when exposed to oxygen.

Though the names of the companies have not been released by the FTC, all are said to market traditional plastic products that have been amended with additives –metals, typically – intended to break the bags down in the presence of oxygen. As many bags are dumped in the low-oxygen environment of a landfill, the FTC has said those advertised benefits are dubious.

More to the point, isn’t the goal of making biodegradable products that they don’t have to go in a landfill at all? Food scraps are super biodegradable, and that’s why they go in the green bin or a compost pile. Biodegrading into nutritious soil in the landfill is worthless.

Read more: http://grist.org/news/surprise-biodegradable-plastic-bags-usually-arent/

Biodegradable plastics – the truth

The truth about biodegradable plastics is that most of them are not

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Most of us are aware of how long-lived petroleum-based plastic bags and packaging are, I am sure. we have seen the trash along roadsides and in our lakes and oceans and festooning our trees.

Some new so-called “bioplastics” claim to be “100 percent compostable,” but tests have revealed that most of these claims are misleading at best and at worst they are blatant lies.

Basically, there are two kinds of “composting.” Composting at home usually involves small-scale piles with low temperatures and less-than-optimum humidity. Then there’s large-scale commercial composting, in which materials are shredded, mixed and maintained at 140 degrees Fahrenheit – a much higher temperature than that of any typical home compost pile and even a backyard composting bin cannot reach such temperatures. Many cities compost yard waste, but only a few sites – about 100 in the entire USA – will also accept these “degradable” plastics and, as far as can be ascertained there are basically none that do in the entire UK.

You will also have seen those bags for kitchen waste, liners for those peely bins, that are supposed to compostable in the home composting environment. Well, they are not, at least not in the claimed three months; more like three years.

In a test conducted in the USA five types of bioplastic bags were tested to see how well they would compost. None of them broke down completely after 25 weeks in home compost conditions (77 degrees).

A product from Italian bioplastic manufacturer Novamont came closest to what we would call truly compostable with a product called Mater-bi. Mater-bi is “made of corn starch, vegetable oil derivatives and biodegradable synthetic polyesters” and in those tests that product was the only one that was compostable at typical home compost pile conditions.

Three other brands did fairly well in commercial composting conditions, but they showed little or no degradation in home compost conditions. One type, Oxo-Biodegradable, did not begin to break down even after 25 weeks at 140 degrees.

Most bioplastic products currently being marketed carry incomplete and/or misleading labeling and the bottom line is that most plastic packaging that claims to be “biodegradable” or “compostable” will only partially, if at all, break down under the conditions typical of most residential compost piles and some even have problems in commercial hot composting environment.

It boils down, once again, to total greenwash and misleading the consumer and everyone else. In the same way that Coca Cola claims to have a 100% plant-based PET bottle which has 30% plant material. In addition to that the material is PET which does not compost and, according to sources in waste management, also cannot be recycled in the same way as ordinary PET.

Other misleading claims are when it says on plastic grocery bags “Made with 100% recycled plastic” as that simply does not compute. The absolute maximum recycled content for any plastic grocery bag – the absolute maximum – is 50% and most are way less than that in recycled content.

Greenwash all the way and the consumer, that's you and I, pay for this.

© 2013

EcoGen biodegradable plastic products – Product Review

Bug “fat” becomes injection moldable plastic

Review by Michael Smith

Recently I encountered the EcoGen products on the Top Drawer Spring 2009 show in London's Earl's Court I and I was then sent a set of the bathroom accessories, the only products so far on the market, made from this revolutionary new plastic.

EcoGen is the first biodegradable plastic that can be injection moulded, just like ordinary thermo-plastic, and while the products will not deform, lose their shape or suddenly disintegrate in normal use, once the consumer no longer wants them he or she can safely, without any need to worry (so we are told) dispose them in the ordinary compost and the material will have composted down within 6 to 9 months or thereabouts.

EcoGen Bullet Points

• The first products to be made entirely from a biodegradable, injection molded material developed from renewable resources.
• A leather boot in a landfill will last 40 to 50 years, a soda pop can up to 500 years, a plastic jug 1 million years, and a discarded Styrofoam cup or glass bottle possibly forever.
• In contrast, EcoGen will biodegrade in six to nine months when composted.
• The science behind EcoGen is a polymer called PHBV (poly-hydroxy butyrate-covalerate), a derivative of the molecule that Forbes magazine declared “one of the five molecules that will change the world.”
• To create EcoGen, we feed naturally occurring bacteria a sugar that is obtained from non GM modified corn starch.
• These “bugs” digest the sugar and store the resulting PHBV polymer much as the human body would store fat.
• Extracted from the “bug,” the stored “fat” becomes an injection moldable material.
• This material, Enmat®, is then blended with other biodegradable compounds to enhance its ability to process efficiently in standard injection molding machines.
• When exposed to microorganisms in compost or soil, EcoGen decomposes into carbon dioxide, water and biomass.
• Extensive scientific testing has established no harmful toxicity from the process or the end product.
• The material’s natural decomposition requires exposure to bacteria commonly found in compost and many soils. So it will not deteriorate in the open air or with ordinary use.
• EcoGen can withstand temperatures of 110 degrees Centigrade / 230 degrees
• Fahrenheit and will last indefinitely under normal conditions.
• EcoGen remains unique, there is one known competitor, believed to be 6 months behind us, and using GM modified crops
  

Aside from the bathroom accessories range that I was sent for review purposes EcoGen have a range of office/desk accessories in work that shall hit the stores soon. It would be nice if we could have it in time for the Green Office Week - if not for this year then it could be something where this could be marketed next year.

The products look real good and also have a nice feel to them. The smell may be a little strange to people at first for it is not the “normal” plastic smell but it is only a very slight one when one takes a very close scrutiny to the objects with one's nose. Those of the readers that use the compostable liners for kitchen waste caddies will be used to the smell which is a little vinegary, though I can never understand why anyone would want to use such bags as they look rather unsightly on one's compost heap and are also rather expensive. Much better just to use the caddies as they are and then wash them as and when needed. Certainly cheaper and better. But back to EcoGen. The smell I mentioned does seem to dissipate somewhat once the items are exposed to air for a few days.

The EcoGen plastic is different to that of the liners in that it composts faster than they do and also that it is an injection moldable one allowing the production of bioplast products that normally require petroleum-based plastics.

I look forward to seeing more products made from this material so that we can compost them in the end rather than having to dump them in landfills or burn them in incinerators. If the latter be for the generation of electricity then it is not too bad but I still rather would see all our plastic products, over time, be replaced by EcoGen plastic products so that, at the end of their life those products can be safely disposed off and then become compost, What a brilliant way to go. Only drawback is here that the archaeologist of the future will have no artifacts to dig up from which to judge what our civilization was like. Not a bad thing either, I guess, as they might get a real bad impression.

The products are made in China but so are most plastic products nowadays and so many other products as well. It is a shame that we do no longer produce things on a more local level but such is the world at present.

From the quality of the products and the fact that the plastic has a slight bit of elasticity I would reckon the items to be virtually unbreakable. Why would you ever want to throw them away, therefore.

I cannot vouch myself, I am afraid, as to the composting time and such as yet as I have no intention of disposing of this set as yet, not even of a single item. It would be a waste of some lovely products.

So, if you are looking for some nice bathroom accessories and want to consider the environment as well then those made by EcoGen of this new kind of plastic would be the right way to go. The sets come in black, blue and white. The white ones used to be exclusive to the stores of the John Lewis Partnership but are now also available everywhere.

If you have any problems finding stockists for the EcoGen range please check out www.homearama.co.uk. The products can be found in this section, where the entire range can be bought.

© M Smith (Veshengro), February 2009
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