Tuesday 8 March 2011

Plastic in a new avatar

Plastic in a new avatar Jabir Mushthari
Oxo-biodegradable material has entered the market
‘Developing countries using the technology'

Kozhikode: Oxo-biodegradable plastic carry-bags and packaging materials, which offer a possible solution to the plastic menace, made their entry into the Kerala market recently.
And for a district such as Kozhikode, declared plastic-waste-free by the district administration two months ago, they may help to sustain the momentum of the campaign against non-biodegradable plastic, coming as they do during the second phase of the Mass Action for Plastic-waste-Free Kozhikode (MAP).
‘Green Solutions,' the State dealers and stockists of the oxo-biodegradable plastic products, has held discussions with the district administration seeking the possibility of promoting their biodegradable products, including plastic carry-bags, in the district.
“We are waiting for a positive response from the district administration,” K.S. Sreekumar, managing partner of the dealers, said.
A British-based environmental technology group, Symphony Environmental Technologies, has developed the oxo-biodegradable plastic, which is being manufactured by a Chennai-based firm in South India. Invention of a d2w (degrade to water) additive has made possible the degradation of plastic.
The additive is added during the production process, making it oxo-biodegradable.
A. Achyuthan, environmentalist, told The Hindu that many developing countries were already using that technology.
“Many multinational brands are also using it as covering material for their products,” he said.
Quoting from the official website of Symphony Environmental Technologies, Mr. Sreekumar said the plastic had a pre-programmed life. At the end of its useful service life, the process of oxo-biodegradation started, breaking it down into water, carbon dioxide and biomass.
“The plastic will degrade and then biodegrade in the dark or in sunlight, leaving no fragments or harmful residues,” he said.

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