(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Plastics
are among the most popular materials in use today. Given the material's
versatility, it is little wonder that some 320mn tonnes of it are used
around the world each year. Indeed, the recent holidays left many with a
mountain of plastic products and packaging. But plastics also pose a
serious environmental threat.
If not disposed of properly, plastics
can lie or float around for decades. In addition to being harmful to
terrestrial and aquatic life, free-floating plastics in oceans can
adsorb toxins and break up into micro-plastics, which then enter the
food chain.
It is this seeming immortality that has led governments
to tax certain environmentally damaging plastic products or ban them
altogether. Many governments are also encouraging better waste
management, and the reuse, redesign, and recycling of plastic products.
This
is prudent policymaking. But while taxes, bans, and waste-management
policies will reduce the problem of plastic pollution, they will not
solve it. And, because plastics are made from a byproduct of oil
refining, a ban would have little or no impact on hydrocarbon
extraction, either. What taxes and bans will do is deprive the poorest
people of a useful and inexpensive material.
The fact is that,
despite the best efforts of well-intentioned lawmakers and
nongovernmental organisations, thousands of tonnes of plastic waste are
still entering the environment, particularly the oceans, every day.
Clearly, a better approach is needed.
Some governments and companies
have been persuaded that 'bio-plastics which are derived partly from
biomass like cornstarch are the solution. But this argument is flawed:
bio-plastics are very expensive and energy-intensive to produce, and
still contain large amounts of material derived from oil.
Moreover,
recycling bio-plastics requires that they be separated from ordinary
plastic. Such polymers are tested to biodegrade, but only in the
particular conditions found in industrial composting. In other words,
while this technology might sound appealing, it will not solve the
problem of plastic litter seeping into the environment.
The focus of
the plastics industry has long been on a product's functionality during
its lifespan. This approach is no longer tenable. The world needs a new
type of plastic one that will perform well, but will also biodegrade
much faster than the plastics we use today.
Enter oxo-biodegradable
plastic. Unlike other plastics, including bio-plastics, OBP biodegrades
anywhere in the environment, and can be recycled if collected during its
useful life. Ordinary plastic products can be upgraded to OBP with
existing machinery at the time of manufacture and at little to no extra
cost, using technology that the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association
is working to explain.
OBP is produced when a special additive is
mixed with a normal polymer. The additive (produced by a company where I
am a director) dismantles the molecular structure of the polymer at the
end of its useful life and enables natural decomposition in an open
environment.
And, when it comes to OBP, decomposition doesn't mean
breakdown into plastic fragments. As Ignacy Jakubowicz, a professor at
the Research Institutes of Sweden and one of the world's leading experts
on polymers, explains, when OBPs break down, the material changes
entirely, with hydrocarbon molecules becoming oxygen-containing
molecules that can be assimilated back into the environment. According
to international standards (such as ASTM D6954), the use of OBP would
demand proof of degradation and biodegradation, and confirmation that
there are no heavy metals or eco-toxicity.
As plastics change, the
ways countries integrate them into their economies must change, too. The
good news is that, though the United States and Europe have been slow
to embrace innovative solutions, others have been more open to them. For
example, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have banned the
import or manufacture of conventional plastics for a wide range of
products, and both now require that plastic products be upgraded with
OBP technology. They have not opted for 'bio-based plastics.
The
world does not need new bans or taxes. Rather, it needs people who work
with plastic, and their governments, to become as adaptable as the
material itself, taking advantage of technological advances to ensure
that we can make the most of a cheap and versatile material, without
subjecting the environment to its damaging impact. Project Syndicate
* Michael
Stephen, a former member of the UK Parliament, is Chairman of the
Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association, and a director of Symphony
Environmental Technologies Plc.
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