`Het duurzame' bio-plastiek kan het milieu beschadigen
Door John Vidal |
De inspanning wereldwijd door supermarkten en de industrie om conventioneel plastiek op basis van olie met milieuvriendelijke „bioplastics“ te vervangen die van installaties wordt gemaakt veroorzaakt milieuproblemen en de verwarring van de consument, volgens een studie van de Beschermer.
De substituten kunnen emissies van broeikasgassen op stortplaatsplaatsen verhogen, sommigen hoge te ontbinden temperaturen vergen en anderen kunnen in Groot-Brittannië worden gerecycleerd niet.
Veel van bioplastics dragen ook tot de globale voedselcrisis bij door grote gebieden van land over te nemen die eerder worden gebruikt om gewassen voor menselijke consumptie te kweken.
De markt voor bioplastics, wat van maïs, suikerriet, tarwe en andere gewassen worden gemaakt, groeit door 20-30% per jaar.
De industrie, die woorden zoals „duurzaam“, „biodegradeable“, „composteerbaar“ en „rekupereerbaar“ gebruikt om zijn producten te beschrijven, zegt bioplastics koolstofbesparingen van 30-80% die met conventionele plastieken worden vergeleken op basis van olie maakt en shelf-life van voedsel kan uitbreiden.
De centra van de zorg bij de op graan-gebaseerde verpakking gemaakt met polylactic zuur (Pla). Gemaakt van de gewassen van GM, kijkt het identiek aan conventioneel polyethyleenterephthalate (Huisdier) plastiek en door het bedrijf van de V.S. NatureWorks geproduceerd. Het bedrijf wordt gezamenlijk bezeten door Cargill, de tweede grootste biofuel van de wereld producent, en Teijin, één van de grootste plastic fabrikanten van de wereld.
Pla wordt gebruikt door enkele grootste supermarkten en voedselbedrijven, met inbegrip van wal-Mart, McDonald's en Del Monte. Het wordt gebruikt door Tekens & Spencer aan pakket organisch voedsel, salades, snacks, desserts, en fruit en groenten.
Het wordt ook gebruikt aan het minerale water van flessenBelu, dat door milieudeskundigen wordt onderschreven omdat de eigenaars van het merk alle winsten in waterprojecten in arme landen investeren. Wal-Mart heeft gezegd het van plan is om 114m containers Pla in de loop van een jaar te gebruiken.
Terwijl Pla wordt gezegd om meer verwijderingsopties aan te bieden, heeft de Beschermer geconstateerd dat het nauwelijks op stortplaatsplaatsen, zal opsplitsen en slechts in het handvol anaërobe autoclaven kan worden bemest die in Groot-Brittannië bestaan, maar die geen verpakking nemen. Bovendien als Pla wordt verzonden naar de Britse recyclingswerken in grote hoeveelheden, kan het de afvalstroom vervuilen, naar verluidt makend andere gerecycleerde plastieken onverkoopbaar.
Vorig jaar op hielden de Onschuldige dranken gebruikend Pla omdat het commerciële bemesten „nog niet een heersende stromingsoptie“ in het UK was.
Anson, één van de grootste leveranciers van Groot-Brittannië van plastic voedsel verpakking, die terug naar conventioneel plastiek na het testen Pla worden geschakeld
in sandwichpakken. Sainsbury’s has decided not to use it, saying Pla is made with GM corn. “No local authority is collecting compostable packaging at the moment. Composters do not want it,” a spokesman said.
Britain’s supermarkets compete to claim the greatest commitment to the environment with plant-based products. The bioplastics industry expects rising oil prices to help it compete with conventional plastics, with Europe using about 50,000 tonnes of bioplastics a year.
Concern is mounting because the new generation of biodegradable plastics ends up on landfill sites, where they degrade without oxygen, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. This week the US national oceanic and atmospheric administration reported a sharp increase in global methane emissions last year.
“It is just not possible to capture all the methane from landfill sites,” said Michael Warhurt, resources campaigner at Friends of the Earth. “A significant percentage leaks to the atmosphere.”
“Just because it’s biodegradable does not mean it’s good. If it goes to landfill it breaks down to methane. Only a percentage is captured,” said Peter Skelton of Wrap, the UK government-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme. “In theory bioplastics are good. But in practice there are lots of barriers.”
Recycling companies said they would have to invest in expensive new equipment to extract bioplastic from waste for recycling. “If we could identify them the only option would be to landfill them,” said one recycler who asked to remain anonymous. “They are not wanted by UK recycling companies or local authorities who refuse to handle them. Councils are saying they do not want plastics near food collection. If these biodegradable [products] get into the recycling stream they contaminate it.
“It will get worse because the government is encouraging more recycling. There will be much more bioplastic around.”
Problems arise because some bioplastics are “home” compostable and recyclable. “It’s so confusing that a Pla bottle looks exactly the same as a standard Pet bottle,” Skelton said. “The consumer is not a polymer expert. Not nearly enough consideration has gone into what they are meant to do with them. Everything is just put in the recycling bin.”
Yesterday NatureWorks accepted that its products would not fully break down on landfill sites. “The recycling industry in the UK has not caught up with other countries” said Snehal Desai, chief marketing officer for NatureWorks. “We need alternatives to oil. UK industry should not resist change. We should be designing for the future and not the past. In central Europe, Taiwan and elsewhere, NatureWorks polymer is widely accepted as a compostable material.”
Other users said it was too soon to judge the new technology. “It’s very early days,” said Reed Paget, managing director of Belu. “The UK packaging industry does not want competition. It’s shortsighted and is blocking eco-innovation.” Belu collects its bottles and now sends them to mainland Europe.
“People think that biodegradable is good and non-biodegradable is bad. That’s all they see,” said Chris Goodall, environmental analyst and author of How to Live a Low-carbon Lifestyle. “I have been trying to compost bags that are billed as ‘biodegradable’ and ‘home compostable’ but I have completely failed. They rely on the compost heap really heating up but we still find the residues.”
Bioplastics compete for land with biofuels and food crops. About 200,000 tonnes of bioplastics were produced last year, requiring 250,000-350,000 tonnes of crops. The industry is forecast to need several million acres of farmland within four years.
There is also concern over the growing use by supermarkets of “oxy-degradable” plastic bags, billed as sustainable. They are made of conventional oil-based plastic, with an additive that enables the plastic to break down. The companies promoting it claim it reduces litter and causes no methane or harmful residues. They are used by Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut and KFC in the US, and Tesco and the Co-op in the UK for “degradable” plastic carrier bags.
Some environmentalists say the terminology confuses the public. “The consumer is baffled,” a Wrap briefing paper said. “It considers these products degradable but … they will not degrade effectively in [the closed environment of] a landfill site.”
A spokesman for Symphony Plastics disputed that. “Oxy-bioplastic can be re-used and recycled, but will degrade and disappear in a short timescale”, he said.
See More:World NewsHave Your Say: ‘Sustainable’ bio-plastic can damage the environment
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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 6:40 am and is filed under Environmental News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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