By: Del Andrus<\/p>\n
The AG of California is suing three companies that are trying to do the right thing for the environment. This brings up an issue that becomes the \u201cbig elephant in the room\u201d.\u00a0 There is confusion in the market place that needs major corrections and clearer definitions.\u00a0 The market is in big need of education!\u00a0 Let\u2019s just take California as a perfect example.<\/p>\n
When it comes to biodegradable plastics, there is an obvious need for a clearer understanding of what materials are made of, what the specific materials issues and values are; and a clearer understanding on how the material impacts the marketplace.\u00a0 For instance, the article in Mercury News asking a recycler of plastic for his experience on how biodegradable plastic impacts his processing plant said, “Even in small percentages, like one-tenth of one percent, these are just catastrophic for us\u2026They melt at different temperatures. They ruin our products.”\u00a0 Anyone in the recycling industry would agree that this statement is absolutely correct.\u00a0 The major error is one of clarification:\u00a0 This statement is absolutely correct if<\/span><\/strong> you are referring to PLA material (plastics derived from corn and other starch-based crops) but is absolutely incorrect if you are referring to ENSO plastics, like this article did.\u00a0 PLA is a completely different plastic, and is 100% incompatible with standard plastics: it melts at lower temperatures, it clogs up the processing equipment, and creates major issues with the physical properties of the new plastic product\u2026the list goes on, but it\u2019s kind of like water and oil in comparison: 1 drop of oil in your 5 gallon jug of water is going to be a problem for anyone to drink.<\/p>\n I contacted the recycler in this article to see what his level of understanding was and to no surprise; he stated that he was referring to his experience of the PLA material.\u00a0 He further added, \u201cI am not familiar with the ENSO material\u201d and apologized for the confusion.\u00a0 This same lack of specificity is rampant in all fields of \u201cexperts\u201d; recyclers, composters, retail outlets, legislators and yes, even the Attorney General.<\/p>\n The compostable plastics industry is trying to separate themselves from the term \u201cbiodegradable plastics\u201d because of this confusion.\u00a0 Also, the fact that compostable plastic is not biodegradable until it physically breaks down in an industrial composting facility creates an issue for them in terms of their claims, so you will see this industry soon leaving the claim \u201cbiodegradable\u201d for a more accurate description of \u201ccompostable\u201d.\u00a0 These industrial composting facilities are different from home composting in that the temperatures are much higher, causing PLA material to melt down into basic components that can then be consumed by microorganisms (microbes) that are found in waste environments.\u00a0 There is also a plastic material that breaks down in oxygen and UV light called OXO-degradable.\u00a0 This plastic is often referred to as a biodegradable plastic as well.<\/p>\n So to date, there are 3 categories of plastics that are considered \u201cgreen\u201d:\u00a0 Biodegradable, compostable and Oxo-degradable.\u00a0 The benefits and advantages differ quite a bit; and as illustrated, the way they are handled for end of life processes (composting vs. recycling) is likewise absolutely different.<\/p>\n If the world knew to distinguish biodegradable plastics into different categories, there would be far less confusion.\u00a0 I would submit that innovation takes time to understand, but for clarity sake, the phrase \u201cbiodegradable plastics\u201d should not<\/span><\/strong> be mistaken for PLA or any other material.\u00a0 My hope is that this ordeal in California will stimulate education and scrutiny into what is being offered to the marketplace, and assist us all to clearly understand the differences of materials and their benefits.<\/p>\n ***ENSO plastic is simply biodegradable because it is treated with an organic blend that attracts microbial activity (essentially mold or fungus) to consume the plastic just like they would consume any other typical food item in any environment where there this activity exists.\u00a0 The rate of biodegradation varies depending on the environment it\u2019s placed in.\u00a0 But generally in a landfill environment, the ENSO material has been shown to biodegrade in 2-20 years depending on the microbial activity present.\u00a0 All of the independent 3rd<\/sup> party ASTM physical properties tests illustrate that ENSO behaves like regular PET and that it is not a contaminate to the recycle stream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: Del Andrus The AG of California is suing three companies that are trying to do the right thing for the environment. This brings up an issue that becomes the \u201cbig elephant in the room\u201d.\u00a0 There is confusion in the market place that needs major corrections and clearer definitions.\u00a0 The market is in big need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":533,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions\/533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}