SUPPLEMENTARY WRITTEN EVIDENCE FROM BIOBAGS (SCOTLAND) LTD

Transcription

1 SUPPLEMENTARY WRITTEN EVIDENCE FROM BIOBAGS (SCOTLAND) LTD Response by the UK Compostable Packaging Group (UK CPG) to misleading statements made by Michael Stephens of Symphony Plastics in presenting verbal evidence to the Scottish Parliament s Consultation on the Environmental Levy on Plastic Bags (Scotland) Bill Introduction 1. As indicated in the written evidence submitted by UK CPG, our group comprises representatives of the supply chain for biodegradable polymers, from manufacturer via end user (e.g. retailers) to waste management companies. In making this response, the writer has consulted The Composting Association and Dr Richard Murphy, Head of the Imperial College London Life Cycle Assessment Group and reference will be made to statements by the Environment Agency and DG Environment of the European Commission. Definitions 2. The key to interpreting the statements made by Michael Stephens is the definition of terms such as biodegradable, compostable and oxo-degradable etc. 3. There are a number of references, some of which are cited below, but there is a commonality of meaning. EN 13432: Packaging. Requirements for packaging recoverable through composting and biodegradation. Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging is widely accepted in Europe as the standard for the compostability and biodegradability of packaging materials. EN is compatible with the American Standard ASTM D6400, and the American system makes a clear distinction between Compostable materials that undergo degradation by biological processes to yield CO 2 and water.. and Oxo-degradable materials that Involve a multi-stage process using a chemical additive to initiate degradation over time. In the UK, one final criterion required of plastics claiming to be compostable is that the resultant compost should meet the quality standards set out in PAS 100: The Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on Packaging and Packaging Waste, as amended (The Directive) explicitly defines organic recycling in Article 3(9) as the aerobic (composting) or anaerobic (biomethanization) treatment under controlled conditions and using microorganisms, of the biodegradable parts of packaging waste, which produces stabilized organic residues or methane. 1 1 A well managed industrial composting facility will regularly turn the windrows, thereby ensuring that the process is carried out under aerobic conditions to produce CO 2, water and residual biomass. If biodegradable materials enter landfill and are degraded under anaerobic conditions, the resultant methane is either flared off or, preferably, burned to generate electricity.

2 5. Annex II of The Directive, Point 3(c) lays down the essential requirements for packaging recoverable in the form of composting : Packaging waste processed for the purpose of composting shall be of such a biodegradable nature that it should not hinder the separate collection and composting process into which it is introduced. 2 Point 3(d) defines biodegradable packaging as of such a nature that it is capable of undergoing physical, chemical, thermal or biological decomposition such that most of the finished compost ultimately decomposes into carbon dioxide, water and biomass. 3 Compliance with EU Law 6. Michael Stephens is correct in stating that fulfilment of EN is not a necessary condition for complying with the essential elements of The Directive. The producer may also use other means to show the biodegradable nature of packaging provided he is able to prove that the packaging complies with Point 3(d) of Annex II above. However, DG Environment of the European Commission has specifically stated that the evidence produced so far by Symphony does not demonstrate that the biodegradation of oxo-plastics ends up in mineral salts, water, carbon dioxide and new biomass only. 7. Furthermore, DG Environment will not ask CEN to develop a standard for oxo-plastics until it is clearly proven without doubt that the degradation of oxo-plastics constitutes a genuine biodegradation and that the end products do not constitute a risk for the environment Proposed New British Standard for Oxo-degradable Plastics. 8. With reference to the last point, the UK Environment Agency was asked to comment on a proposal to amend the existing BSi Compostable Packaging Standard (BS EN 13432:2000) to allow the inclusion of oxo-degradable materials. Their detailed reply is attached from which the following key statements have been extracted. i. Is oxo-degradable plastic suitable as a feedstock for composting? The Environment Agency considers that it is not suitable. ii. Is it acceptable to apply the fragmented plastic to soils? The Environment Agency does not believe that this is acceptable. These statements by the Environment Agency are fully supported by the DTI which has also made its position clear to the British Standards Institute. UK Compost Quality Standard 9. In the UK, as stated above (paragraph 3), one final criterion required of plastics claiming to be compostable is that the resultant compost should meet the quality standards set out in PAS 100:2005. A study to evaluate the rate of 2 Waste management companies have experienced considerable problems in dealing with oxo-degradable plastic bags in their composting facilities as they do not break down (see paragraph 9) 3 DG Environment acknowledges that this is a very broad definition. However see paragraph 6

3 degradation of degradable polyethylene (Symphony-type material) in open windrows (Davis attached) demonstrated that polyethylene sacks are not compostable under such conditions. Moreover, the high volume of polyethylene in the screened over-size woody particles resulted in these rejects being land-filled rather than being incorporated in newly formed batches at the start of the composting process. Such a situation would both reduce the quantity of compost produced in any given period and add to the composter s costs. 10. Biodegradable plastics such as the carrier bags sold by BioBags (Scotland) that conform with EN are truly biodegradable under composting conditions and may be termed compostable. Oxo-degradable materials are not. Symphony Claims 11. In his verbal evidence to the Scottish Parliament s Environment and Rural Development Committee, Michael Stephen s claims that Symphony s plastics are compostable and superior in that respect to products sold by BioBags (Scotland) are, therefore, clearly misleading. 12. Concerning The Soil Association s use of Symphony products, this illustrates how even the most ethical organisation can be misled by false claims. Symphony material may well be safe for food packaging but it is not biodegradable. Questions also remain, raised by both the Environment Agency and DG Environment as to the fate of breakdown products in the soil. 13. Another (former) customer of Symphony, The Co-op (now supplied with similar non-biodegradable products by EPI a Canadian Company) at least qualifies the claim on its carrier bags that This plastic bag is 100% degradable with the statement that From the date of manufacture, the plastic will start to degrade in approx. 18 months time. The whole process will take about 3 years. Clearly this material is unsuitable for composting where waste management companies require the composting cycle to be completed in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately such statements are misleading for the general public for whom the term degradable has different connotations. Conclusion 14. The UK CPG has close links with IBAW (International Biodegradable Polymer Association), ERRMA (European Renewable Resources and Materials Association) and has received supportive letters on the issue of the nonbiodegradability of Symphony materials from many UK organisations including Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, British Plastics Federation, National Farmers Union, CRYSTAL Faraday, INCPEN and the Environmental Services Agency.

4 15. The UK CPG s aim is to establish a UK scheme for the collection and recycling, via composting, of biodegradable waste. The recent introduction of this scheme responds to the unilateral industry self-commitment concerning biodegradable and compostable polymer products introduced through a collaboration between ERRMA and IBAW and recognised by DG Enterprise of the European Commission as ensuring the observance of standard EN in the production of biodegradable and compostable polymers. Ian D G Bartle Chairman UK Compostable Packaging Group, 3 November 2005 This submission also includes an article entitled Open windrow composting of polymers: an investigation into the rate of degradation of polyethylene which can be accessed at

5 ENVIRONMENT AGENCY Date: 8 April 2005 Mr Brian Such Programme Manager British Standards Institute 389 Chiswick High Road London W44AL Compostable packaging and Oxodegradable plastics Dear Mr Such The Agency has been asked to comment on the current proposals to amend the existing BSI compostable packaging standard. We have been given extensive infonnation regarding the potential inclusion of oxodegradable plastics within the current standard and would now like to make you aware of a number of potential regulatory issues. Overview We understand that the oxodegradable plastic will only partially degrade in the composting process and indeed that that any plastic fragments that are applied to soils with the compost will take some time to break down. The draft standard states that' thermally aged oxodegradable polyethylenes are substantially converted to carbon dioxide and cell biomass within two years'. The draft standard also suggests that the plastic fragments may be applied to soils and will be expected to behave in much the same way as plant derived carbon sources. This raises two separate issues. 1. Is oxodegradable plastic suitable as a feedstock for composting? The Environment Agency considers that it is not suitable and therefore would not support the inclusion of oxodegradable plastics in the feedstock when considering whether any composting facility should be granted a waste management licence or registered as exempt from waste management licensing. 2. Is it acceptable to apply the fragmented plastic to soils? The Environment Agency does not believe that this is acceptable and therefore would not support the application of this material to soils when considering whether the activity should be granted a waste management licence or registered as exempt from waste management licensing. Is the plastic waste? Any plastic becomes waste once its holder discards, intends to discard or is required to discard it. In this case, the plastic is discarded once it has fulfilled its original purpose when it has been used to transport the collected biodegradable

6 waste. Once delivered to a composting facility both the green waste and the plastic bags will need to either be recovered by the composting process or disposed of via a separate route. Can the material be composted? "Composting" is defined in the Waste Management Licensing (England and Wales) (Amendment and Related Provisions) Regulations 2005 (which are due to come into force on 1 July) as "autothermic and thermophilic biological decomposition and stabilisation of biodegradable waste under controlled conditions that are aerobic or anaerobic and result in a stable sanitised material that can be applied to land for the benefit of agriculture or ecological improvement". As such the inputs to a composting process must be biodegradable. We understand that a normal composting cycle of 8-12 weeks will only partially degrade the oxodegradable plastic, but will break it into fragments. We also understand from composting operators who have used feedstocks that contain oxodegradable packaging that the fragments of plastic that pass through the composting process and can not be effectively screened out from the finished product. The proposed standard states that full biodegradation of the material can only be expected after 2 years once the material has been applied to soil. Thus, we are not saying that the material can not be recovered via biodegradation, but rather that the material is not suitable for recovery within a composting operation. The process that degrades the oxodegradable materials is not the composting process, but is the act of incorporating it into soils. If the waste does not degrade though the composting process the operator can not use the fact that he is mixing it with compostable materials and thereby Qiluting the non compostable material to facilitate the disposal of the non-compostable fraction. The Agency applies this regulatory line to any non compostable waste that is proposed for composting at an exempt or a licensed site. Is it acceptable to apply the plastics to soils? The proposed standard discusses the fact that the components of oxodegradable plastic will behave in much the same way as farm generated waste materials such as straw. There is no exclusion from waste management regulation for normal farming practices unless they are done in such a way that we are able to say that the material never becomes 'waste' in the first place. The ploughing in of straw that is generated on a farm field is a good example of this. Here, the material has arisen from the process of farming and it is being 'reused without any further processing as an integral part of the production process' and is never discarded within the meaning of the Waste Framework Directive. Ploughing in waste plastic is not the same thing -that is a waste disposal activity. Using the soil to dispose of plastics that will break down in the soil 'eventually' is not acceptable practice. Disposal The activity of ploughing the residual plastic back into the land in order to get rid of it is a disposal activity, because the primary purpose is to dispose ofit. We

7 have no evidence to suggest that it can confer agricultural benefit or ecological improvement and there is no other way in which this activity can be regarded as 'recovering' or 'reusing' the waste plastic. BSI should note that if the Agency deems that the ploughing in of these oxodegradable materials is indeed a waste disposal activity then an operator would need to consider the requirement for a PPC permit. Our preference would be to approach this issue from the angle of environmental impact and good practice, and to encourage the manufacturers to avoid getting into a potential 'landfill' situation. This could be achieved by ensuring that the material degrades sufficiently within the composting operation so that there is no (or only a very minimal amount of temporary) residue to be ploughed back in with the finished compost, and that the activity has no adverse impact on the receiving soil. Yours sincerely DR N SWEET Policy Advisor (Biological Treatment)