'Sustainable' bio-plastic can damage the environment
An article by John Vidal in the British newspaper the Guardian makes the claim that eco-friendly “bioplastics” are hurting rather than helping the environment.
There is a worldwide effort by industry to replace conventional oil-based plastic with more environmentally friendly bioplastics made from plants; such as maize, sugercane, wheat, corn and other crops.
The concern is with corn-based packaging made with polylactic acid (Pla) which looks identical to regular polyethylene terephthalate (Pet) plastic.
While Pla is claimed to have more disposal options, the Guardian has found that it won’t break down in landfill sites, and requires the use of specialised anerobic digesters to be composted. Also if Pla gets in to the waste stream it will contaminate the waste stream and will reportedly make other recycled plastics, from the stream, unsaleable.
