Cameron Challenged Over Plastic Bag Charge Threat
10 October 2011
Following the Prime Minister's recent ultimatum (28 September) for supermarkets to reduce the use of plastic bag or be forced to make people pay for them, Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc, UK specialist in short-life, fully-degradable plastics, has written to Mr Cameron in response to the "attack on plastic and shopping bags"
Author of the letter Michael Laurier, chief executive of the company puts forth an argument in support of d2w technology, which he states solves the problem of plastic bags' biodegradability.
Laurier states that the technology: "converts ordinary plastic products at the end of their short useful life into a biodegradable material, which is bio-assimilated in the environment in the same way as a leaf."
The letter states that some people have become "obsessed" with attacking plastic bags and also puts forth an argument where they are the greener choice above paper according to a Life-Cycle Assessment published by the Environment Agency this year.
"Instead of banning or taxing plastic bags they should be required by law to be made degradable according to British Standard 8472 or equivalent," the letter states.
The full letter reads as follows:
Dear Prime Minister,
We are a British company, exporting a British technology around the world through 68 Distributors covering more than 90 countries.
We are concerned by the attack on plastic shopping bags with which some people have become obsessed, and we were very sorry to see the statement you made on 28th September. Plastic is by far the most suitable material for protecting our food from damage and contamination.
The attack on plastic bags is driven by the fact that they will not degrade for decades in the environment, but our d2w technology solves this problem. It converts ordinary plastic products at the end of their short useful life into a biodegradable material, which is bio-assimilated in the environment in the same way as a leaf. During its useful life it can be recycled with normal plastic, but the bio-based plastics cannot.
Peer-reviewed science already submitted to DEFRA confirms the biodegradability of d2w-type plastics and they pass the tests in ASTM D6954 and EN13432 to confirm that they are not toxic.
A Life-Cycle Assessment published by the Environment Agency this year showed that ordinary plastic shopping bags were more sustainable than paper or bio-based plastic, and better than heavy-duty plastic bags or cotton or jute unless the latter were re-used very many times. It also showed that contrary to recent press reports, carrier-bags are being used an average of 5 times and are used as a bin liner at the end of life. They should not be called "single-use" bags.
In the current economic climate shoppers should not be forced to pay for so called alternative bags that have been proven to be less hygienic and more costly to the environment. Ireland is a good example of where a restriction went wrong, as the consumption of shopping bags went down, but the consumption of plastic bin liners went up by 400%.
Instead of banning or taxing plastic bags they should be required by law to be made degradable according to British Standard 8472 or equivalent, and governments in the Middle East have already done this. If all the plastic had been made degradable there would be no Pacific Garbage Patch. The bio-based plastics are not useful for protecting the open environment from plastic waste because they will not readily biodegrade under those conditions.
Shopping bags are only a small fraction of all plastics consumed. Bottles, packaging films and agricultural films are some of the larger users of plastics, and all these products should be made with our type of technology.
Our industry has been damaged by a misleading statement made on 11th March 2010 by the then Labour Minister, which needs to be retracted as a matter of urgency.
We would be happy to brief you in detail on these important issues.
Yours faithfully,
MICHAEL LAURIER
Chief Executive
Darrel Moore
