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AnEco – oxo-biodegradable & compostable (part 1)
Posted onIn previous article, we showed the differences about “appearance” and information on packagings of AnEco products and other conventional “biodegradable-labelled” products. By essence, what are the differences between AnEco and other products? Why AnEco – 100% compostable bags – are confident to be the best environmental protection solution. Today, AnEco will tell more about the impacts on the living environment.
Conceptually, AnEco products is compostable bags, while the “self-distruct bag” products available on Vietnamese market are just oxo-biodegradable bags. Internationally, they are two completely different concepts. However, in Vietnam, they are regarded as one. So, what is oxo-biodegradable?
Oxo-biodegradable plastic contains mainly common polymers such as PE, PP and PS, and another important additive – metal salts. This component of metal salt makes plastic bags break down into small pieces much faster than conventional plastic bags. The two most widely used biodegradable additives are D2W and Oxium.
D2W is an oxo-biodegradable additive technology in the form of metal salts belonging to Symphony Environment Company, whose headquarter located in the United Kingdom. As informed by the manufacturer, D2W is extremely effective and only need to use 1% in ordinary PE and PP bags
Oxium is an oxo-biodegradable additive technology of Tirta Marta, which is based in Indonesia. Regarding product specifications, this product is quite similar to D2W.
(Promotional photo of Oxium products)
The ability and decomposition time of this product are not clearly proved whether it happens exactly as advertised or not. It is only clarified that the decomposition time would take place faster than conventional plastic products without additives in the same period of time.
In January 2018, the European Commission released a report on Oxo-biodegradation, which states: “No evidence was found in the external environment, the decomposition into fragments of molecular weight low enough to allow for real biodegradation.” Therefore, there is a risk that biodegradable pieces of plastics which are not completely decomposed will rapidly accumulate microplastics, especially in marine environments. As far as you know, microplastic contamination is a serious issue to marine ecosystems. If it is not well managed, an adverse effect on the environment will be made by oxo-biodegradable bags.
In Italy, the Milan Court stated that, in fact, plastic products containing D2W do not decompose more than traditional plastic. It is enough to understand that these products could not meet European standards for industrial decomposition, according to EN 13432 Standards. Therefore, the Court adjudicated that plastic bags and other products containing ‘D2W’ additives could not be legally used as “biodegradable” products according to standards in the European market.
Comparing the differences between Compostable and Oxo-biodegradable
(photo of seawater sample containing lots of microplastics)
In Europe and many other developing countries, oxo-biodegradable products are not accepted as eco-friendly products. The next article will present clearly how AnEco has contributed to the environmental protection since its inception.
Refer to English document about the comparison of COMPOSTABLE and OXO-BIODEGRADABLE products
https://www.naturbag.com/case-study-compostable-vs-oxo-degradable
Tiếng Việt