The Government of Pakistan has recently passed laws that only allow oxo-degradable bags within the nation of Pakistan. The bags are made with certain additives which contain metal salts(transitional salts) such as iron stearate’s and manganese stearate’s with cassava starch to break the polymer chain into small fragmented plastic polymer chains. The dust which is created by UV interaction shows no sign of degradation without the initial introduction of the UV light. The controlled “degradation” mechanisms does not allow for consumer disposal of the products into a landfill or a disposal facility. The plastic articles which are littered will break into powder over a period of time longer than 6 months. The question remains whether these products are officially biodegradable.
In recent news REMA from the Rwanda Environmental Management Authority banned the use of Oxo-degradable bags after finding the oxo-degradable bags are really not biodegradable plastic. The plastic bags which were sent to Rwanda showed no sign of degradation and therefore banned from Rwanda as they did not work as intended by the supplier.
Non-biodegradable bags are outlawed in many countries worldwide including Rwanda, Italy, India’s coastal communities and some locations around Australia and the United States. Biodegradable plastic is defined as a plastic which undergoes biodegradation by microorganisms to assimilate the plastic polymers into materials generally found in nature. This transition is done by hydrolysis and metabolic pathways which did not exist previously.
Oxo-degradable plastics do not present the possibility that these metabolic pathways are possible as the biodegradation can not occur without the first transition to powder by UV light. Oxo-degradable technologies have been marketed as biodegradable or oxo-biodegradable, this terminology leads consumers into believing that the metabolic pathway for microbial biodegradation exists when business owners add an additive which break down by photo degradation.
BioSphere has developed an additive which places enhanced biodegradation within the polymer chain allowing for separate metabolic pathways to occur on the polymer chain. The use of BioSphere’s biodegradable plastic additive allows microorganisms the ability to consume the plastic article without the need of UV light.
* Pakistan Outlaws Non-Biodegradable Bags; This story was first seen at http://tribune.com.pk/story/529356/biodegradable-bags-guarantee-a-greener-future-for-islamabad/#comment-1445184
