Policy and reports

A Chinese review of the scientific evidence illustrating the levels of microplastic pollution of soils has been published this summer and it makes interesting reading, both for those claiming that the use of plastics in agriculture is not a problem (spoiler alert, it is) and for those of us, like BBIA members, who propose benign alternatives. It adds another piece of evidence to the many that show the worrying scale of soil pollution from plastics and the damage this creates to ecosystems.

A peer-reviewed paper on why bioplastics should be the preferred choice of policymakers trying to resolve issues of plastics pollution has been published here. It makes the case that bioplastics, while not perfect, offer immediate solutions in many applications which help reduce plastic waste and therefore should be a priority for policymakers.

A research study undertaken by the pressure group Earth Actions claims that around 250,000 tons of plastics waste are mismanaged in the UK annually by which they mean plastic waste is not correctly processed or is exported.

The Royal Society of Chemistry has released its 2040 roadmap for sustainable polymers in liquid formulations.

The Commission adopted a package of measures for a sustainable use of key natural resources, which will also strengthen the resilience of EU food systems and farming.

Compostable plastics support the separate collection of organic waste. However, there are concerns that the fragments generated during disintegration might not fully biodegrade and leave persistent microplastic in compost. Researchers spiked particles of an aromatic–aliphatic polyester containing polylactide into compost and then tracked disintegration under industrial composting conditions. The yields were compared against polyethylene.

The world has focused on carbon mitigation as the only solution for climate change. This discussion paper considers how marine biodiversity regulates the climate, and the factors that control marine biodiversity.

Biodegradability standards measure ultimate biodegradation of polymers by exposing the material under test to a natural microbial inoculum. Available tests developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) use inoculums sampled from different environments e.g. soil, marine sediments, seawater. Understanding whether each inoculum is to be considered as microbially unique or not can be relevant for the interpretation of tests results. This review address this question.

DEFRA has published its annual UK waste statistics, always an interesting read to see the trends. Key points? Flatlined recycling at 44 per cent a number that has barely increased since 2010 despite the performance of Wales at 56.7 per cent; an enormous 6.8 million tonnes of biodegradable waste were landfilled in 2021 up 10 per cent in 2020; and packaging waste recycled remains unchanged at 63.2 per cent – including of course packaging exported for ‘recycling’.

Scotland’s Government published its strategy to reduce littering and fly tipping, which you can read here. The timing is ironic given the postponement of Scotland’s DRS programme, halted it would seem by fierce lobbying from the retail and drinks industries as well as issues with the UK Internal Market Act.

Despite the openly hostile views of DEFRA towards compostable materials, Packaging Insights reports a surge in demand and the need for more organic recycling facilities to accept compostables.
The same publication wrote a long and in-depth report into claims around oxodegradability and similar definitions on 19 June, quoting the undersigned in the piece. The report from UCL which was published in May highlights the lack of evidence that any of the additives claiming to ‘biodegrade’ ordinary plastics actually work in reality, especially in cooler and wetter climates. Who would have guessed?

BBIA members Total Corbion published the results of a study undertaken in France which demonstrates how well compostable plastics actually compost and biodegrade in real conditions. Well, this is not a surprise to many of us but the surprise is we still need to show that compostables compost! Spoiler: they do. You can read the preliminary report here.