There was a recent press release issued by Media Juice titled \u201cBiodegradable Plastic \u2013 Compostable Not So Fast Says Stanford Daily.\u201d\u00a0 The press release reviews a study performed by students at Stanford University regarding compostable utensils and their performance in \u201creal world\u201d environments.<\/p>\n
The study points out that what the company markets as a compostable PLA material and the \u201cCompostable\u201d certifications that organizations (such as BPI Biodegradable Products Institute) issue on the material is not necessary a reflection of what happens in real world environments.<\/p>\n
This brings up a great point and discussion topic and one ENSO has pushed for the past five years and that is that we are mistaken in our approach to promoting, marketing or pushing materials that will go away in any real world environment in a specific timeframe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Even the much touted and pushed material of PLA is not a rapidly compostable as is promoted in marketing materials.\u00a0 Sure, we can create test environments which are highly controlled and manipulated that will maximize biodegradation and provide results that look and sound great, but the variety that nature brings in the real world can mean a huge difference in the amount of time needed for a product to biodegrade, from months to even years. This does not change the fact of whether a product is biodegradable, just simply that to dictate exactly when it will biodegrade is a bit misleading to the consumer.<\/p>\n
So yes \u2013 labs can show specific time frames for biodegradation, but what happens when that same material ends up in real world environments?\u00a0 9 times out of 10, it doesn\u2019t perform as promised.\u00a0 So, what does this mean?\u00a0 How can a material tested and certified by industry organizations such as BPI not perform when introduced into real world natural environments?\u00a0 After all legislators are passing laws based on such certifications.<\/p>\n
We would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.sbwire.com\/press-releases\/biodegradable-plastic-compostable-not-so-fast-says-stanford-daily-225526.htm<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/forkprintproject.wordpress.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.news.pitt.edu\/news\/Landis_polymers_LCA<\/a><\/p>\n