posted by admin on Jul 6
I mean, is biodegradable plastic such a good invention after all?
It always seems like an invention suddenly comes along and you think ‘wow, that is absolutely fantastic!’ – until you think it through for a bit longer.
Well this is exactly like that.
The invention is still a great idea – but the implications of it could actually have worse effects than before it was invented!
Why? Well let’s follow through the life cycle of a plastic bottle and see what happens – but first – what is biodegradable plastic all about?
The Invention:
Regular plastics are made of polymers that can take literally for ever to break down. They will do though – at varying rates – depending on the type of plastic they are it can be months or years before they start to break apart.
Now, we all know that plastics will never actually really ‘biodegrade’ in the sense of breaking down into total natural products that can be used again by organisms – but the word is used for the relatively fast breakdown of an entire container or sheet of plastic.
Now, this plastic is made to contain certain other particles that will help to induce and encourage the ‘natural’ breakdown of the item. Just like burying a plastic carrier bag in damp mud will help it to weaken and fall apart.
So, anyway – they have come up with 2 types – Hydro-Biodegradable Plastics (HBP) and Oxo-Biodegradable Plastics (OBP) – and they work either by the chemical actions of hydrolysis or oxidation respectively to reduce the overall bulk of the product.
This then renders it into small enough pieces that natural bio-degradation can start to act on the remaining parts, reducing the product to it’s chemical components much faster than normal.
The Problem:
Normal plastics have been designed to be virtually indestructible, therefore you can use a plastic bottle over and over and over again. Even if you can recycle it – it is still as strong as it was before.
This was the original problem, meaning that plastic products never broke down:
Old Plastic Bottle: Brought new with product inside – product used up – container cleaned – container reused to carry another product – and another – and another -and another – then the container is recycled to start all over.
However, now this means that all new plastic will only have a short shelf life – too short for some – in fact, it is already making regular plastic fall apart as well!
New Plastic Bottle: Brought new with product inside – product used up – container cleaned – container thrown in compost heap to degrade – the end!
So, how is it affecting new bottles? Well - biodegradable plastics shouldn’t ever be recycled as it will compromise the quality and durability of new mixed plastics – basically it is starting to make recycled products less reliable!
If you buy a product in a biodegradable container, you must dispose of it after use – this means more plastic is being produced and thrown away than ever before!
At least with the regular plastic, you could reuse your toiletries bottles when travelling, use old pots and tubs for planting and store water and food over and over again.
Not with this new invention! You will just have to keep replacing your containers and as a result, dispose of more plastic than ever! And in fact, there are governments who are really getting angry about these new plastics and is trying to get them eliminated!
The Answer?
Well, we still need the regular plastic and we still want the biodegradable plastics!
Can they both co-exist or has 1 got to go?
I suppose it all depends on the person using it as to how beneficial each type is – to them and the planet. Can you trust people not to recycle the new type – and can you trust people to recycle the old type?
Is it better to have lots of old plastic going around and around – or only new plastic, but a higher production rate?
Well, maybe financially – it was a better invention after all!
