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New Solutions In Sustainable Plastic

April 13, 2010

Decomposing oxo-biodegradable plastic. Image: Wikipedia

Somewhere in the Pacific between Hawaii and San Francisco is what's known as the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch', a huge, swirling collection of floating debris that marine biologists estimate to be larger than New South Wales. According to oceanographers, almost 80 percent of the Patch is plastic; this plastic, they hypothesise, starts out discarded on the street, and is then washed into storm drains into the ocean, where it is sent by currents and winds into this ever-growing gyre.

The Patch has proven devastating for marine wildlife, with many species mistaking the debris for food and ingesting a range of toxic chemicals. Often, these creatures are then eaten by bigger fish, many of whom make their way onto our dinner plates.

It's disturbing to think about on a number of levels. But it's also useful, in a way: by learning about the Patch, we can come to see, in concrete terms, how our plastic and packaging doesn't disappear when we throw it away––and how it has very real implications for the health of our planet.

Packaging, in all its forms, accounts for much of plastic production worldwide. Which is why innovation in plastic packaging is so urgently needed.

Thankfully, the last few years have seen some big steps forward in plastic technology. (We've already seen a couple on this blog.) In response to the urgent need for more sustainable plastics, a number of creative, practical solutions have been devised by a variety of companies and organisations. Let's take a look at two of them.  

Oxo-biodegradable plastic

Conventional plastics, as anyone who has seen the Patch can tell you, take an enormous amount of time to biodegrade. And short of wishing for a society in which we don't use plastic––a reality most would agree is still quite distant––we need a plastic that can still do all the things that conventional plastics can do, but that actually breaks down relatively quickly, without producing any toxic side effects.

Enter oxo-biodegradable plastic. Oxo-biodegradable plastic is made like regular plastic, except with the addition of a small amount of what's called a 'pro-degradant' formulation. This formulation helps to break down the polymer's molecular chain, which means that at the end of the product's life, it biodegrades relatively quickly.

By altering the amount of pro-degradant added during manufacturing, companies can alter how long a plastic will last before it will degrade (a reusable plastic shopping bag, for instance, might be programmed to last longer than a bag designed to pick up dog poo).

The Canadian-designed EcoBio Oxo-Biodegradable Trash Bag, for instance, 'are engineered to degrade and totally fragment in 90 to 120 days and 60% mineralize/biodegrade in a further 12 to 24 months after disposal.' 

So is it safe? The company that manufactures the bag, Ecosafe, says that the additives used to help their bags degrade have been tested for ecotoxicity, all components in the bag comply with regulations relative to direct food contact, and the bags contain no harmful residues that might accumulate in the soil.

Oxo-biodegradable plastics are now being employed in a number of different products worldwide, including water bottles, plastic satchels and shrink and pallet wrap. While more research is needed to confirm its safety over the long term, the move toward biodegradable plastics is definitely a move in the right direction.

Image: www.degradable.net

Ecologia plastic sheets

One Australian company doing its best to provide sustainable plastics for a range of industries is Melbourne-based company Megara. Last week, Megara announced that its 100% recycled polypropylene sheet, ecologia, had been certified as carbon neutral by the Carbon Reduction Institute.

The ecologia sheet range comes in a range of finishes (marble, translucent and glossy metallic) and gauges, and can be used, the company says, for 'stationery, packaging, POP & POS displays, signage, presentation kits, [and] industrial applications.' The recycled sheet is manufactured on site through the company's purpose-built recycling plant, which turns post-industrial products and scrap into 'a pelletised form whose properties closely match those of virgin material.'

Megara's new sheet is a great leap forward in plastics for a number of reasons. Not only does it extend the life of a raw material, but it also ensures no material ends in landfill, recycles efficiently and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Production of the recycled sheet, the company says, 'uses 40 times less energy than virgin material along its path of transformation back into sheet stock.'

By replacing 1kg of Virgin polypropylene with 1kg of ecologia polypropylene, Megara says companies would reduce their greenhouse emissions in this area by 97%. To top it off, Megara offers to recycle their products once consumers are done with them.

So while we might not be able to remove the Great Pacific Garbage Patch right now, by incorporating eco-friendly packaging solutions such as degradable and recycled plastics, we can package our products in ways that don't add to it. And that's something we should all be working towards.

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