News Bag Manufacturer to
News Bag Manufacturer to Stop Advertising Environmental Claims for Oxo-Products The US National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has recommended that GP Plastics Corp. modify or discontinue certain advertising claims for its PolyGreen plastic bags. Among the criticized claims are for example: • PolyGreen plastic bags are ‘100% oxo-biodegradable’ • PolyGreen plastic bags are ‘disposable through ordinary channels’ and go ‘From front lawn, to waste bins to the landfill’ • ‘Eco-Friendly Plastic Newspaper Bags’ • PolyGreen plastic bags are “environmentally friendly.” According to GP Plastics the plastic bags are manufactured using ‘oxo-biodegradable’ technology. NAD noted that the advertiser’s claim that PolyGreen bags ‘are disposable through ordinary channels’ should similarly be supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence that the entire plastic bag ‘will completely break down and return to nature … within a reasonably short period of time after customary disposal.’ However, NAD determined that the evidence in the record did not support that claim. NAD recommended that the advertiser discontinue the claim that PolyGreen bags are ‘100% oxobiodegradable’ and otherwise modify its advertising to avoid conveying the message that PolyGreen bags will quickly or completely biodegrade when disposed of through ‘ordinary channels,’ e.g., when placed in a landfill. NAD further recommended that the advertiser discontinue claims such as ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ etc. because the claims overstate the evidence with respect to the degradation of the plastic bags. GP Plastics Corp. has said it will appeal NAD’s findings to the National Advertising Review Board. NAD’s inquiry was conducted under NAD/CARU/NARB Procedures for the Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising. For more information about advertising self regulation, please visit www.narcpartners.org. Source: www.nadreview.org/content/pressdoc/4944PR.pdf Two New Laws in California Independent testing of several so called ‘oxo biodegradable’plastic bags in the marketplace have shown little or no biodegradation using accelerated aerobic test methods, such as ASTM D5338 and ISO 14855. Moreover, the reports clearly state that these materials do not meet the requirements of ASTM (6400), European (EN 13432) or international (ISO 17088) specification standards. An independent study commissioned by the State of California’s Waste Management Board with a California public university and under their supervision showed that the ‘oxo-biodegradable’ bags on the market showed no biodegradation (‘Performance Evaluation of Environmentally Degradable Plastic Packaging and Disposable Service Ware,’ California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) Publications, (June 2007). This study, and the proliferation of unsubstantiated claims on biodegradability forced the State of California to put in place laws AB1972: ... prohibit the sale of a plastic bag that is labeled as “compostable” or “marine degradable,” unless that bag meets the ASTM Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics D6400, the ASTM Standard Specification for Non- Floating Biodegradable Plastics in the Marine Environment D7081, or a standard adopted by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, as specified. The bill also would prohibit the sale of a plastic bag that is labeled as “biodegradable,” “degradable,” “decomposable,” or as otherwise specified. A companion bill AB 2071: ...would authorize a city, a county, or the state to impose civil liability, in specified amounts, for violations of the above provisions and would require any civil penalties collected to be paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, district attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office brought the action. Weblinks to the mentioned documents can be found at www.bioplasticsmagazine.de/200901a Mark your calendar bioplastics MAGAZINE is planning the 2nd PLA Bottle Conference to be held during drinktec 2009 (mid September 2009) in Munich, Germany. A ‘Call for Papers’ is now open. Send your proposals to the editorial office. mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com www.pla-bottle-conference.com www.drinktec.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Use of Oxo-Additives implicates loss of Warranty Dr.-Ing. Christian Bonten, FKuR-Director Technology & Marketing News Braskem, Brazilian Petrochemical Company, developer of biobased polyolefins (Polyethylene and Polypropylene) made from renewable raw materials, mainly sugarcanebioethanol and with a project under construction to produce 200 Kt/y of Green PE, starting end 2010, does not warrant the performance of its resins with additives for the so-called ‘oxo-degradation’. The use of such additives with Braskem’s polyolefins, implicates the loss of warranted qualities of the materials. In a data sheet accompanying their ‘High Density Polyethylene HF 0147’ for instance it is stated: Braskem’s resins do not contain additives produced from metals or other substances which have the objective to promote oxo degradation. Such additives and the decomposition and fragmentation of resins caused by the oxo degradation compromise the approval of the resin regarding requirements of the Resolution 105/99 of ANVISA (Brazilian National Agency of Sanitary Monitoring). The use of these additives implicates the loss of the performance warranties described in this document. www.braskem.com.br Frost & Sullivan Award for DuPont DuPont recently received the ‘2008 European Bioplastics Product Line Strategy Award’ from Frost & Sullivan -- a leading market consulting company -- for its accomplishments in rapidly developing an extremely diverse range of highperformance materials based on renewable sources. Several DuPont renewably sourced products already are in the market and can be found in textile, automotive, cosmetics, personal care and industrial applications. Adriano Bassanini, DuPont BioMaterials leader, Europe, Middle East & Africa, received the award on behalf of DuPont. “This is an achievement we should be proud of. Bioplastics lie at the heart of our growing business platform,” Adriano said. “This diverse approach makes DuPont rather unique in the industry, as most other companies are focusing on a narrow range of bio-based chemistry for their biomaterials portfolio. Frost & Sullivan is therefore proud to confer this award to DuPont,” said Dr. Brian Balmer of Frost & Sullivan. FKuR and Ritter Pen got award for innovation Biograde ® from German FKuR Kunststoff GmbH, in the form of the new Bio-Pen from the writing utensils manufacturer Ritter-Pen GmbH has been granted the award for innovation ‘Biomaterial of the year 2008’. Biograde is a transparent, injection mouldable bioplastic based on cellulose. This co-developed product from FKuR and Fraunhofer UMSICHT combines renewable and biodegradable cellulose acetate with special additives and coupler by means of an adapted biocompounding process from FKuR. Biograde is transparent (depending on grade), dyeable, scratch and heat resistant. The cellulose acetate used is gained from European soft wood. Bio-Pen is a new series of writing utensils from Ritter-Pen for the ecologically aware consumer. 80 % of the ball pen is made from the renewable and compostable Biograde. “With the help of Biograde Ritter-Pen is able to develop aesthetically appealing writing utensils that meet the consumers´ wish for eco-friendly products. Biograde is injection mouldable, and what is more even dyeable and printable”, says Fredy Büchler, managing director from Ritter-Pen. “Together with Ritter-Pen we are very pleased about the award, since it confirms that with the development of injection mouldable bioplastics we are in the pulse of time.”, explains Dr. Edmund Dolfen, managing director of FKuR. Bioplastics are a class of polymer which have properties comparable to conventional polymers, but are made from renewable resources or enable the biodegradability of the products made from this material. The innovation award ‘Biomaterial of the year 2008’ has been granted by the company Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co. KG within the framework of the international congress ‘Raw Material Shift & Biomaterials’ of the nova-institute on in Cologne the 3rd /4th December. www.fkur.com www.ritter-pen.de www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de www.renewable.dupont.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
