Today Michael talks about Microplastics, Environmental Footprints and Coffee Waste. This is a FREE article.

Microplastics

The EU Commission has just released a draft proposal on restricting intentionally-added microplastics from various packaging, cosmetics, sports pitches and other general materials.

The BPA had responded to the consultation Response Consultation as follows:

"There is an obvious gap in this consultation. A large proportion of the microplastics are not intentionally-added. They are released into the environment from the embrittlement and erosion of ordinary plastic items (including man-made fibres in clothes) and these fragments of plastic can lie or float around in the environment for decades.

Efforts are being made by the public and private sectors to reduce the use of plastics, to re-use them, and to recycle them, but thousands of tons of conventional plastic items are still getting into the open environment and will continue to do so for some years into the future.

The EU should therefore decide as a matter of urgency to require all everyday plastic items (made with PE or PP) to be made with oxo-biodegradable technology, so that they will cease to be plastics and convert rapidly into a waxy substance which is biodegradable. There is no longer any doubt that they will do this much more quickly than a conventional plastic item would, and countries outside Europe have already made this mandatory after carefully auditing the technology."

If collected before they degrade, these plastics can be safely recycled without separation https://www.biodeg.org/subjects-of-interest/recycling-2/

Environmental Footprints

On 1st September 2022 I read a report in "Packaging Insights" that Zero Waste Europe says "When it comes to packaging, EU policy focuses on collection and recycling and not on the overall environmental impact. In terms of emissions, single-use glass is the most carbon-intensive type of material per unit of product, and since the use of single-use glass is growing, so is the impact. The legislation basically says that it's ok to increase emissions, as long as you recycle."

Glass remains the most energy intensive material in the packaging industry. Yes, recycling has gone up, but so has the environmental impact."

An LCA by Intertek published by the UK Government in 2011 and a further LCA by Intertek in 2012 Life Cycle Assessments found that ordinary plastic has a better LCA than the other materials used for packaging. When the litter-metric is included d2w biodegradable plastic is even better.

Coffee Waste

I noticed on 30 Aug 2022 that a US company is introducing a new raw material for packaging, which combines a proprietary blend of discarded coffee waste with polylactic acid (PLA) to make a "compostable" polymer that is 35% cheaper than "all existing solutions."

Using coffee waste is better than growing crops to make plastic, but it is still mixed with PLA, and perhaps also with oil-based material. The PLA is usually made from food-crops such as corn, cassava, sugarcane or sugar beet.

What is the point of this new material anyway - except to cash in on the environmental sensitivity of "Generation Z"? It is tested to biodegrade in the special conditions found in an industrial composting unit - not in the open environment, and even there it does not convert into compost - it converts into CO2 gas - see EN13432. This is not circular - it is waste.

Michael Stephen

Michael Stephen is a lawyer and was a member of the United Kingdom Parliament, where he served on the Environment Select Committee. When he left Parliament Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc. attracted his attention because of his interest in the environment. He is now Deputy Chairman of Symphony, which is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, and is the founder and Chairman of the Biodegradable Plastics Association.

Earlier Postings in this Column

All articles of Michael Stephen can be found here

  • 1/ 1/ 20 - Plastiphobia, Microplastics and A Throw-Away Society
  • 7/ 1/ 20 - Recycling, Lab Testing, Bangladesh and the Right Bioplastic
  • 14/1/20 - Plastiphobia and Bioplastics Definitions
  • 21/1/20 - Composting, the European Union and Unemployment
  • 30/1/20 - Plastiphobia, Malaysia and a Case Against Compostables and Paper
  • 7/02/20 - Coronavirus, MPs Letter, Montreal, Australia and the Dominican Republic
  • 14/02/20 - Oman, MacArthur Foundation, Stifling Innovation, South Africa and Compostable Plastics
  • 24/02/20 - Serbia, India, Pakistan and European Bioplastics
  • 03/03/20 - Plastic To Protect Health and Common Sense on Plastic
  • 10/03/20 - Plastiphobia, Singapore, Compostable Plastics, Doorknobs and Carbios
  • 17/03/20 - Greening our Way to Infection, Defra Warns Against Bioplastics and Montreal
  • 24/03/20 - Ditch the Plastic Bag Ban and Inn-Probio
  • 01/04/20 - The Come Back of Plastic Bags, Compostable Plastic Not Wanted and EASAC
  • 16/04/20 - Coronavirus and Agricultural Plastics
  • 11/05/20 - Coronavirus, Peru, Barbados and Recycling
  • 18/05/20 - Say No to Plastiphobia, False Descriptions and the Recycling Myth
  • 02/06/20 - Definitions and More Setbacks for Plastiphobia
  • 11/06/20 - BBIA, Food Waste and Testing of OXO-Biodegradable Plastic
  • 19/06/20 - Oxo Biodegradation, Independent Reports and Precautionary Principle
  • 29/06/20 - Banana Republic, Why Turn Plastic into CO2 and Plastic Waste from Ships
  • 13/07/20 - Running Scared, The Daily Telegraph and Market Report
  • 20/07/20 - Tipa, Plastics Today and The American Genius
  • 27/07/20 - Coronavirus, Plastic Litter, Bahrain and Polymateria
  • 17/08/20 - Plastics Europe, Confusing Issues and Paper
  • 25/08/20 - Professor Emo Chiellini, Plastics Today, Greenwashing and Coronavirus
  • 28/09/20 - Kill the Virus, Marine Degradation, Airports, Brazil Retail, Plastic Growth and Face Mask
  • 08/10/20 - Compostable vs Biodegradable, Covid 19 and New British Bioplastic Standard
  • 27/10/20 - Power of Lobbying, Paper and Cotton Worse than Plastic
  • 02/11/20 - Covid 19 and Five Myths About Plastic
  • 09/11/20 - Support for OXO BIO, Westminster Forum, Euractiv and Covid
  • 23/11/20 - Toxicity of Bio-based and Biodegradable Plastics, and Covid Scaremongering
  • 15/12/20 - Recycling and An Article from Austria
  • 21/12/20 - EU Scientific Advisers, China Chose Wrong Bioplastics and Covid Nonsense
  • 05/01/20 - EU, Covid Lockdowns, WRAP, British Standards Institution and Polymateria
  • 12/01/21 - Intertek and Composting
  • 19/01/21 - Recycling and Exporting Plastic Waste
  • 22/02/21 - Seaweed Plastic, Orange Peel and Xampla
  • 02/03/31 - OXO Biodegradable Plastic
  • 08/03/21 - EU Scientific Reports and Paper vs Plastic
  • 15/03/21 - India, Australia and Dow Chemicals
  • 14/04/21 - Oxomar, UK Government and Microplastics
  • 26/04/21 - Plastic to the Rescue of Covid and More News from Brazil
  • 04/05/21 - Packaging Digest
  • 07/06/21 - Minderoo Report and Korea Herald
  • 30/06/21 - Recycling, Is the Use of Biobased Plastics Increasing, Confused Australians and Biodegradable Future
  • 12/07/21 - EU Flawed Directive, Thailand and Pakistan
  • 21/07/21 - Directors Talk, Confusion, Stir Magazine and Dumping Plastic Waste
  • 02/08/21 - Angry Farmers, DEFRA and Substitutes for Plastic
  • 06/09/21 - Microplastics
  • 13/09/21 - UK Government, Defra and David Newman
  • 20/09/21 - Michael Stephen Video Interview on Antimicrobial and Biodegradable Packaging
  • 05/10/21 - Freedom of Information and Plastic Waste Solutions
  • 14/10/21 - Michael Stephen at Pack4Change Summit
  • 22/10/21 - Plastic from Algae and Carbon Dioxide
  • 15/11/21 - Defra
  • 22/11/21 - Defra, India, Food Service Footprint Magazine and Waste 360
  • 30/11/21 - RWM Digital Spotlight and Plastiphobia
  • 17/12/21 - Disposal in the Right Way and Defra Consultation Responses
  • 04/01/22 - Precautionary Principle, Anti Oxo Campaign and Defra
  • 11/01/22 - Microplastics
  • 17/01/22 - Michael Laurier, A Saucy Problem and Unilever
  • 21/02 /22 - No Alternative for Plastic
  • 08/03/22 - Sustainable Agriculture, Canada, Consequence of Banning, United Nations
  • 14/03/22 - Plastiphobia
  • 04/04/22 - Virgin Mobile, Defra, OXO, Microplastics, End of Life Options
  • 11/04/22 - Ellen MacArthur Foundation
  • 09/05/22 - Response to Association of Plastic Recyclers
  • 16/05/22 - Wrap and More Bad News for Compostable Plastics in UK Parliament
  • 30/05/22 - A Threat to Humanity and Market Research
  • 13/06/22 - Recycling, OECD and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
  • 27/06/22 - Recyclass, Unilever, UK Plastic Packaging Tax
  • 04/07/22 - Korea, Carbon 13 Study, Defra, Food Shortages and Biobased Plastics
  • 09/08/22 - Oxford Analytica, Indonesia, Paper is not the Answer
  • 16/08/22 - Video, Canada, The Guardian, Food Waste, Recycled vs Virgin Polymer
  • 22/08/22 - Defra and Plastics in Agriculture
  • 30/08/22 - Recycling and Food Waste (FREE)

Interview with Michael Stephen

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed here by Michael Stephen and other columnists are their own, not those of Bioplasticsnews.com.

European Green Deal: Commission consults on reducing the release of microplastics into the environment. This is a FREE article -- "Anti-OXO Biodegradable" campaign was driven by commercial interests and unfair commercial practices

February 23, 2022

In "EU"

Michael Stephen, an international expert on bioplastics, shares his thoughts and opinion on important issues impacting the bioplastics industry. Today, Michael writes about microplastics. This is a FREE article.

January 11, 2022

In "Michael Stephen Column"

Michael Stephen, an international expert on bioplastics, shares his thoughts and opinion on important issues impacting the bioplastics industry. Today, Michael writes about Oxomar, UK Government and Microplastics

April 14, 2021

In "Michael Stephen Column"

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Disclaimer

Symphony Environmental Technologies plc published this content on 07 September 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 08 September 2022 11:09:01 UTC.