European Bioplastics announces concerns over Plymouth University bag study

The trade association, European Bioplastics (EUBP), has raised concerns over the findings of a recent report which looked at the environmental deterioration of plastic carrier bags made of different materials.

As reported by BP&R earlier this week, the findings of the ‘Environmental deterioration of biodegradable, oxo-biodegradable, compostable, and conventional plastic carrier bags in the sea, soil, and open-air over a 3-year period’ carried out by Imogen Napper and Richard Thompson at Plymouth University showed that there was a lack of consistency in the rates and ways in which each of the bags degraded in the various elements when treated as litter. 

However, the Managing Director of EUBP, Hasso von Pogrell, says that the study misses out certain testing scenarios for the biodegradable and compostable bags that would have led to a different outcome for those materials, and therefore presents misleading findings. 

He said: “Plastic products certified to be industrially compostable are no solution for littering. Testing them as if they should be is misleading the public’s perception of the technology. It creates the impression of the product lacking in performance, even though the performance in the intended environment has not been tested at all.

“Most of the bags selected [for the study] are not biodegradable according to European Union (EU) definitions in the first place – indeed only one product is: the compostable bag. But the scenario of industrial composting, for which the item was designed, was not tested.”

The association says the study highlights the importance of correct labelling and certification when looking at different types of plastics, and maintains there is a place for industrial composting of biodegradable plastics as part of a circular economy model.

The EUBP’s Chairman, François de Bie, said that despite the association’s concerns over the testing types, the study from the University showed that “certified biodegradable and compostable bags - designed to be collected with the bio-waste and organically recycled in dedicated composting plants - even if mistakenly littered in the environment due to bad habits, have a reduced environmental impact.”