The Environmental Protection Agency’s plastic restriction policy has entered its twentieth year this year, and decomposable plastics advertised as “compostable and decomposed, natural materials” are gradually replacing ordinary plastics in retail channels. The decomposable plastics that have been buried and exposed to the sun for months are still intact and strong, and the water in plastic bags will not break. Whether it is “decomposable” is doubtful.
No recycling lines No composting opportunities
This newspaper also found that almost 100% of domestic waste is processed at high temperature, and decomposable plastics have almost no chance of composting and decomposition. It has become a breaking point of the circular economy, and the public shouted “Sincerity for unfeeling”.
The fresh trays, egg boxes, etc. in the store are messy and replaced with polylactic acid plastic PLA, and the bottom of some cold drink cups also has the number “seven” PLA material mark. It is generally believed that PLA raw materials are taken from crops, so it is more environmentally friendly, and many companies have to pay the bill. However, this newspaper’s test film coating is an unrealistic idea.
Claims to be decomposed by sunlight but watertight
This newspaper and Greenpeace obtained PLA egg boxes, cold drink cups, and tomato boxes from the market at the end of March and buried them in the soil soaked in water. They also disposed of plastic bags that claimed to be decomposable in the sun on the top of the experiment box. After nearly five months, only The cold drink cup was cracked in two places, but the rest is intact. It is so strong that it can be reused, and the water in the plastic bag will not leak. This plastic bag is labeled “Oxidative biodegradable plastic bags, every kilogram used can reduce the earth’s carbon footprint by 0.206 tons.”
Li Fangyi, Director of Greenpeace Promotion, pointed out that after the test of scorching sun and heavy rain, the “natural decomposability” of PLA is disappointing. It is more environmentally friendly.” I believe it is true.
Deformed Ms. Xu said that the transparent plastic drink cups all look the same, and they are usually thrown into plastic containers for recycling. Mrs. Jiang in Taiwan knows that many egg boxes are made of PLA decomposable materials, but “the city government’s recycling trucks don’t want us to sort them into this category!”
Classified in No. 7, there is no way to reproduce
Tracking the flow of recycled plastic containers in Beishi on the spot, recyclers rely on machines to sieve plastic, iron and aluminum and other materials, but they can’t pick out PLA. Shang said.
「PLA is indeed a big trouble! Lu Shichang, deputy director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Taipei City, said that the appearance of PLA containers is no different from ordinary plastics, and they are classified in the seventh category of “others”. This category includes a variety of plastic materials, and most people don’t know. The processing plants in Taoyuan and Changhua continue to reflect that the purity of recycled plastics is destroyed by the addition of PLA, and they cannot be remade into original plastics such as PE and PP, so they can only be scrapped and used as fuel.
The Yunlin County Environmental Protection Bureau also stated that to compost PLA, it must first be processed into powder and then recycled independently, but the cleaning team has no manpower and time to further subdivide it, and the recycling mechanism for PLA is equal to zero. The plastic industry also said that when the plastic mixed with PLA is remanufactured, the surface plastic will peel off, “the finished product will be reimbursed, and I don’t know who to ask for compensation.”
Burning without burying is not necessarily more environmentally friendly
“PLA composting is called fake.” Xie Heling, Secretary-General of Taiwan Caretaker Association, said that Taiwan’s composting space is not enough for kitchen equipment, so how can there be room for PLA? The PLA that cannot be given up is to go to the incinerator. How can it be more environmentally friendly?
Chen Zhicheng, a student of the Department of Physical Engineering at Tatung University, said that PLA products with natural ingredients are difficult to analyze in a natural environment, and industrial compost must be collected, which means that the photographer must be above 55 degrees, and the humidity should be 80 to 90 percent. Next, it can be resolved in six to twelve weeks.
