The other day, I was standing in line at Pi Cafe, Wesleyan's little shop that sells coffee, tea and sandwiches. I bought a delicious falafel, and as I was about to throw out the plastic container it came in, I noticed that the container was labeled as "biodegradable." The only other information it gave me was that this plastic, which looked like every other plastic I had ever seen, was in fact made from corn and would biodegrade over a relatively short period of time.
Now, having done a little research, I can tell you that this astounding event is true - there are a number of companies selling corn-based biodegradable plastic. For example, 2WPlastic has created a resin called NatureWorks PLA - and they use it to create disposable (compostable) plastic products that look exactly like normal ones. The only (small) catch is that these plastics only function up to 110F - which makes them less usable in industrial settings than other types of plastic. PLA stands for polylactide, and as the name suggests, this plastic is made from lactic acid formed during fermentation.
To read more about biodegradable plastic, click here:
or visit:
http://www.2wplastic.com/index.htm
Monday, March 10, 2008
Biodegradable Plastic?
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2WPlastic,
biodegradable plastic
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8 comments:
Oxo-biodegradable plastic is a better alternative.
This includes an additive which makes it degrade, then biodegrade, on land or at sea, in the light or the dark, in heat or cold, in whatever timescale is required, leaving NO fragments NO methane and NO harmful residues.
Oxo-bio meets American Standard 6954, and is made from a by-product of oil refining which used to be wasted, so nobody is importing oil to make it.
There is little or no extra cost.
Plastics made from crops, are at least 400% more expensive, they are not strong enough, and they emit methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) in landfill. Also, it is wrong to use land, water and fertilisers to grow crops for bioplastics and biofuels, which drives up the cost of food for the poorest people.
The same applies to growing cotton or jute to make durable bags. These rapidly become unhygienic and become a durable form of litter, but they can be made from oxo-bio plastic to last up to 5 years.
Paper bags use 300% more energy to produce, they are very bulky and heavy and are not strong enough. They will also emit methane in landfill
Michael Stephen
Symphony Environmental, UK
www.degradable.net
NatureWorks PLA is actually NOT biodegradable. It is industrially compostable. This means that it will degrade in an industrial setting where the compost reaches a certain temperature, which is higher than a household compost heap will ever reach. Industrial composting is not available in the vast majority of North America. NatureWorks no longer even mentions composting in its marketing materials. There has been a lot of greenwashing with regards to PLA, and this is part of it. A little more in-depth research will show you lots of problems with making plastic out of corn, as MIchael mentions.
2WPlastics is just a vendor making utensils, etc. out of the PLA they buy from NatureWorks LLC, an offshoot of Cargill.
Most of what Michael has said is correct, though his estimate of the price for the plastics is incorrect. Biopolymers are getting closer and closer to the same price as petroleum based plastics. I would beware of what anyone in the industry tells you about their, or competing, products.
I am an industrial designer with no affiliation to any manufacturer, just an interest in ending the greenwashing running rampant in today's marketing.
While I agree that PLA is not the answer to our plastic problems, for the same reasons that the other two commenters mention, I do not believe that Oxo-biodegradable plastic is the answer either. Michael is trying to make a sale, but the truth is that Symphony's oxo-biodegradable plastic is made from the same petroleum-based plastic that regular plastics are made from with a heavy metal added to the plastic to cause it to break down over time.
One of the worst problems with plastics are the raw pre-production plastic pellets, otherwise known as "nurdle," which are a huge problem in marine environments. Symphony's oxo-biodegradable plastic does NOT address this problem. It also doesn't address the problem of our dependence on oil, an unsustainable resource.
His comments about reusable bags do not hold water. Reusable bags made from natural fibers and durable reusable containers, as far as I can see, are the most sustainable choice. I wrote more about Michael's D2W plastic on my blog here:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2008/01/bittersweet-symphony-called-d2w.html
And you can find many, many alternatives to plastic products here:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/thelist
And unlike Michael from Symphony, I am not trying to sell you any product. Maybe just a bit of common sense.
Beth
There is even a better alternative BIOPLAST Biodegradable Plastics.
Using our own patented unique formula of bacteria enzyme base substrate as against starch base as used by other manufacturers world over. This is the only biotechnology in the world using bacteria enzyme base substrate which is completely bio-degradable as per ASTM and EN/ISO standards with the lowest cost addition.
BIOPLAST LIMITED
www.bioplast.com.tr
BIOPLAST is also made from oil based plastics, it is no better than Symphony plastics.
Degradable, oxo-degradable and photo-degradable do not degrade in landfill or in wet conditions, Canadian research just came out to show this. Nither do they compost, as they are made from oil based plastics, not organic matter.
In 20 years time I fully expect to see that these additive based plastics have been poisoning us, just as we discovered that asbestos and cigarette smoking were killing us, but only well after it was too late to same a lot of lives, also in the case of additive based plastics the problem would not be confined to only those people that used the product, in the case of potential toxins from additive based plastics it would involve the entire human race.
How do I work that out you may well ask!
It's simple really, what happens to oil based plastics with additives is that the plastic breaks down to particlaes so small you can't see it, but it's still plastic and additives, these are consumed by the organismss lower down the food chain, they think it's food, will it change them, like giving them cancer or something?, as the oil based plastic and additives work their way up the food chain, inside on organism or fish or animal it will get to us eventually, what damage to the ecosystem will it have done along the way, and what will it do to us when we eat that animal/fish/seafood that contains the oil based plastic particles and additives that have migrated through many stages of the food chain, will it poison us, I think it will.
The best and safest alternative to plastic is that made from potato starch, non-gm, and a non-food crop as the potatoes are the high starch industrial variety which are only grown for making the plastic. This is a renewable resource. Potatoes have the highest starch content of any plant, thus this it a better choice than those made from corn, wheat, tapioca, rice, etc.
If you want to look into starch based plastics further I recommend you look at these sites:
http://www.stanelcoplc.com
http://www.biotec.de
http://www.comp-bio.co.uk
http://www.indaco.ca/bagtonature.php
http://www.sphere.eu
http://www.sphere-spain.es
http://www.biopak.com.au/Starpol.html
There are a lot of problems with PLA - If we made all of the plastic disposable items used in the world every year, it would take one hundred million tons of corn to make it. That would lead to mass starvation in the third world, as that represents at least 10% of the world's grain supply. Also, in landfills, PLA exudes methane when it decomposes-and methane is a potent greenhouse gas. It also takes a huge amount of diesel to grow, fertilize, ship, and process this corn. As a practical matter, it is also not recyclable. The alternative? Oxo-biodegradable plastics. See http://biogreenproducts.biz for full information. -Tim Dunn
Hi,
We ran across your website and i read it more interesting, thank you for the ideas you shared i learn a lot from it. We'll come back often.
Once again, thank you very much!
Regards,
Oceans Green
2wplastic.com is just a chinesse dealer scammer they don´t produce anything, it is just a fraud web page.
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