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Some Biodegradable Plastics Don't Live Up To Their Claims
ckwu writes From bread bags to beverage bottles, many plastics now contain additives designed to make the materials biodegradable. But a new study shows that plastics made with such additives do not biodegrade in the environment significantly faster than those without the compounds. Researchers prepared films of commercial plastics with three different types of additives supplied by their manufacturers. The researchers then treated the film samples to mimic disposal of such plastics in a compost pile, a landfill, and soil. After about six months of composting, a year and a half of landfill-like conditions, and three years of soil burial, the plastics with additives did not show any more evidence of biodegradation than plastics without them.
20 years ago I got a yellow rain jacket (the trash bag kind) once when on a cruise by Niagra falls. Written on the back in huge block letters was the word "Biodegradable". It is still usable today. I have little trust of biodegradable plastics until I see proof.
I read the internet for the articles.
I'm sure these idiots know the proper way to biodegrade plastic is expose it to UV. Which makes me wonder what their motivation was for testing in other conditions? Granted, these are "normal" disposal methods, but if you read the products they usually say "biodegradable in sunlight".
So crying that they don't biodegrade when buried is like buying solar panels and then complaining they don't produce power at night.
A real recycle program
That would be good. Even better would be to reduce the amount of plastic we use in the first place. When I receive shipments from Amazon, the packaging usually weighs more than the products. This is necessary because of the workers at UPS/USPS/FedEx that drop, throw, and step on the packages. When we replace these idiots with robots, a lot less packaging will be needed.
We had to separate glass, plastics, and paper. The a truck comes around and dumps all three bins and the garbage cans in to the same trash truck without any form of separator.
And to induce more rage- they won't pick it up if it is not sorted properly.
A real recycle program
That would be good. Even better would be to reduce the amount of plastic we use in the first place. When I receive shipments from Amazon, the packaging usually weighs more than the products. This is necessary because of the workers at UPS/USPS/FedEx that drop, throw, and step on the packages. When we replace these idiots with robots, a lot less packaging will be needed.
In fairness to FedEx their sorting operation in Memphis already use robots that weigh and measure each package to minimize the forces used during sorting. the drivers, well that's another story. Given Amazon's size and volume manufacturers could package stuff more reasonably. Do I really need a tamper proof sealed plastic case for an item I buy through Amazon? Amazon already packages some of their Amazon labeled stuff more sanely in cardboard and I wish they'd push manufacturers to do something similar for what they sell via Amazon.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Curbside recycling doesn't help much either when it's just for homeowners, as it seems to be most places. The homeowners around here have their recycling bins, but none of the apartments I've lived in have ever had any recycling options for any materials.
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don't care if they really work or if they're helping reduce plastic in landfills.
Biodegradable does NOT mean they degrade in landfills. Landfills tend to have very dry conditions, so almost nothing will rot. It is common for them to contain century old newspapers, and dessicated food. Biodegradability is important for plastic discarded along roadsides, or adrift in the ocean, not for landfills. It is arguable whether it is even desirable to have landfill material decompose. Decomposing releases CO2, methane, and other greenhouse gases. If the material remains intact, we can dig up and recover materials as recycling techniques improve. We are already doing this with some landfills. It is called Landfill Mining. The only rationale for decomposing landfill material is the myth that we are "running out of space", but that is nonsense. We have enough landfill space to last for centuries, even with our current wasteful practices.