The recent demise in California of legislative bill SB-1454 took some by surprise. This cleverly written piece of legislation was designed supposedly to clarify misleading labeling claims and would prevent the sale of plastics in California whose packaging is labeled not only biodegradable but also compostable.
Under the current legislation there is a bill SB 1454 that is proposing to ban the use of the word “BIODEGRADABLE” for ALL plastic products. Sounds absolutely crazy, why would any legislator agree to support this? Well, the bill is backed by the PLA industry, most specifically BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute) and Natureworks. They have proposed the legislation to prevent consumers from being able to choose other environmental solutions that make better sense. The legislation has a very compelling and sexy intent behind it which is to prevent green-washing and promote consumer awareness but what it really does is helps the PLA industry corner the market by preventing competing technologies and environmental solutions which the facts show are better than PLA.
PLA is ONLY a industrial compostable material and if used for applications such as bottles, toys, misc packaging, etc have no chance of EVER making it into a disposal environment that is needed in order to mechanically break down the plastic. When these products make it into the customary disposal methods of recycling or landfills they will wreak havoc on recycling and last forever in landfills.
Our mission is to address and help solve the plastic pollution issue in the world, this legislation will do nothing to move us closer to that goal. It will hinder innovation and prevent consumers from knowing what is in the packaging material of the products they are purchasing. We believe a better approach would be to encourage innovation, stop green-washing by requiring any claims to be backed up by scientific 3rd party testing data using internationally recognized standards board’s testing and require brands to use definitions based on the tests performed. We believe consumers will understand what it means when companies claim biodegradable, compostable or degradable when using these terms.
On July 26 we joined a group of like minded companies and people to create the Environmental Plastic Coalition to work towards stopping this kind of legislation. We need your help to let the California legislators know that big business our voices do matter. We are creators of own reality, making choices that support our reality not ones that disarm it.
Please…. Send an email no later than FRIDAY – August 5th to: EPC@ensobottles.com with the following: (all messages will be provided to the coalition lobbyist)
The Assembly Members need to hear from consumers on the following:
Please end with your name, the city you live in and your phone number.
We thank you for taking the time to write, solving the plastic pollution issue is a very important issue and one in which we are all involved with regardless of whether we like it or not. We need to work together in order to solve the situation that was created from the past decades. Doing your part along with people just like you we can and will make a difference and provide a better, cleaner world for the future.
Sincerely,
Danny Clark
President
ENSO Bottles
It seems to be human nature to overcome and conquer; whether it be our neighboring countries, animals, plants, or biodegradable plastics – we seem to have instilled a belief that we as humans with our developed brains can and should have direct control over everything. From the beginning of time this desire has caused a never ending battle with nature; we manipulate it through genetic modification, we attempt to control it with toxic fertilizers, heavy machinery and pesticides. And throughout this battle we continuously marvel at our own genius – never mind the damage, pollution and unbalance we bring with it.
The book titled JUNK SCIENCE: How Politicians, Corporations, and Other Hucksters Betray Us by Dr. Dan Agin was very interesting book. Dr. Agin has a Ph.D. in biological psychology and thirty years of laboratory-research experience in neurobiology and is an associate professor emeritus of molecular genetics and cell biology at the University of Chicago.
The book titled MICROBES An Invisible Universe by Howard Gest was one of the most informative and interesting books I have read on the world of microbes. This book is 200 pages crammed full of detailed information about the history and the function of microorganisms, also known as microbes. The author, Dr. Howard Gest is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Microbiology and Adjunct Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. Dr. Gest is widely recognized for his research on microbial physiology and metabolism.
The Ecology of microbes to one another and their surroundings is extraordinary with respect to the diversity of chemical and physical conditions that can be tolerated. Microbes thrive in extreme environments with regards to temperatures, high concentrations of salts and sugars, relative acidity, and with or without the presence of oxygen.
There are three main categories of degradable plastics: biodegradable plastics, compostable plastics and degradable plastics. One of the biggest contributions to the confusion surrounding the subject of degradable plastics is a combination of the lack of common definitions and the loose usage of these definitions.
The ASTM International, originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, is a standards organization, host to committee D20.96 on Environmentally Degradable Plastics and Biobased Products. The ASTM maintains a Standard Terminology Relating to Plastics under their designation: D 883 – 08. The following are the ASTM definitions for degradable plastics:
biodegradable plastics—a degradable plastic in which the degradation results from the action of naturally-occurring micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and algae.
compostable plastic—a plastic that undergoes biological degradation during composting to yield carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate consistent with other known compostable materials and leaves no visually distinguishable or toxic residues.
degradable plastic—a plastic designed to undergo a significant change in its chemical structure under specific environmental conditions resulting in a loss of some properties that may vary as measured by standard test methods appropriate to the plastic and the application in a period of time that determines its classification.