August 23rd, 2011
by EPI Marketing / EPI News
By Anthony Clark
Posted 23 August 2011 10:15 am GMT
Tesco’s decision to stop using biodegradable plastic bags has kicked up a rumpus amongst bio additives producers: degradable plastics specialist Symphony Environmental Technologies has queried the UK retailer’s decision to drop biodegradable bags due to their weakness – calling into question the science behind the statement.
EPI Environmental Products, which supplied the additive used by Tesco in its oxo-biodegradable plastic (OBP) bags, defended its technology. “The weakness of the Tesco bags was most certainly not a result of using OBP additives,” it said in a statement.
“EPI supplied additives for Tesco bags for several years and is aware that problems with weak bags were not observed until Tesco implemented cost-cutting measures such as film thickness reduction and increase in fillers and recycled content.”
Symphony’s spokesman echoed EPI’s comments: “These bags were made with additive supplied by one of our competitors, and they were weak because they were not suitably made. This has nothing to do with degradability.”
“Interestingly, Tesco’s decision to discontinue usage of OBP additive followed shortly after the release of the UK Defra report on OBP, which raised questions about OBP performance and appears to have influenced Tesco’s key decision makers,” added EPI.
According to the company, the Defra report was based an incomplete literature review of OBP technology, and the erroneous conclusions drawn regarding OBP degradation and biodegradation were based on misconceptions.
(Original article)
August 19th, 2011
by EPI Marketing / EPI News
At EPI we are committed to standing by our oxo-biodegradable technology.
Try our bags and see for yourself!
Email info@epi-global.com with your name and full address and we will send you a free sample of an EPI oxo-biodegradable plastic garbage bag.
Limit one per household, offer expires Sep 19, 2011.
August 18th, 2011
by EPI Marketing / EPI News
Vancouver, Canada (August 18, 2011) – EPI Environmental Products Inc. is confounded by Tesco statements regarding discontinuing the use of oxo-biodegradable plastic (OBP) bags because OBP additive made Tesco bags weaker. The weakness of the Tesco bags was most certainly not a result of using OBP additives. EPI supplied additives for Tesco bags for several years and is aware that problems with weak bags were not observed until Tesco implemented cost-cutting measures such as film thickness reduction and increase in fillers and recycled content. EPI’s OBP additives are used worldwide in carrier bags without any problems related to weakening of bags.
Interestingly, Tesco’s decision to discontinue usage of OBP additive followed shortly after the release of the UK DEFRA report on OBP, which raised questions about OBP performance and appears to have influenced Tesco’s key decision makers. Unfortunately, the DEFRA report was actually an incomplete literature review of OBP technology, and the erroneous conclusions drawn regarding OBP degradation and biodegradation were based on misconceptions. EPI participated in the preparation of a strong rebuttal paper that was recently submitted to DEFRA, and which contained a complete scientific validation of OBP technology and OBP performance.
EPI’s oxo-biodegradable technology addresses the problem of the persistence and accumulation of plastic waste in the environment by providing a means for conventional plastics to degrade and biodegrade in the environment. Conventional plastics continue to be the predominant type of plastic used in plastics bags and packaging applications because economically viable, sustainable alternatives are not available. In fact, a recent UK Environmental Agency report indicated that plastic bags made from conventional plastics had a lower environmental impact than the alternatives, including bio-based plastic bags.
Bio-based plastics, such as corn starch-based materials, are made from renewable resources and are being widely touted as alternatives to conventional plastics. However, bio-based plastics use food resources as raw materials, are expensive compared to conventional plastics, and are only applicable to industrial composting as a disposal route. Using food to make plastics is widely recognized as an unsustainable practice, and therefore bio-based plastics have not made a significant impact on the packaging industry. Furthermore, composting of bio-based plastics is not widely practiced, so there is no suitable end disposal option.
EPI suggests that Tesco should review its decision as it appears to be based less on facts and more on misinformed notions. EPI welcomes any opportunity for review of OBP technology. EPI’s OBP additives provide the most economical approach to achieving plastics degradation and environmental benefit related to conventional plastics usage.
About EPI Environmental Products Inc.:
Established in 1991 in Canada, EPI Environmental Products Inc. (EPI) with its UK subsidiary EPI (Europe) Ltd. has become a world leader in the fight against plastic waste. EPI licenses proprietary technology that causes plastic to degrade. Plastic bags, plastic film, plastic packaging and other single-use plastics can remain in the environment for decades. When these products are manufactured using EPI’s additives, they will degrade and subsequently biodegrade when discarded in soil, in the presence of microorganisms, moisture, and oxygen.
July 28th, 2011
by EPI Marketing / EPI News
By Barry Cooping,
Plastics & Rubber Weekly
Posted 27 July 2011 11:24 am GMT
The UK Environment Agency (EA) has temporarily withdrawn its report SC030148:Lifecycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags while a legal query is resolved.
The report, still accessible in the public domain via the Internet, shows that re-use of bags rather than the material of which they are made per se is the critical factor in reducing environmental impact – and so-called “green” bags may perform badly in a comprehensive lifecycle assessment.
In particular, according to the report, a cotton bag would have to be used at least 131 times to ensure that it has a lower global warming potential than a conventional “single use” lightweight HDPE carrier bag that is not reused. Paper and compostable bioplastic bags also show higher global warming potential than the conventional bag.
EPI Environmental Products, the Canada-based producer of oxo-biodegradable additives used to render conventional plastics degradable and biodegradable, participated in the study leading to the report. The company provided conventional plastic bags containing its TDPA degradable additive for evaluation.
An EPI spokesman commented: “We welcome this type of scientific approach to examining environmental benefit. EPI is committed to substantiation of environmental claims and is pleased that the [withdrawn] EA report shows that the attacks on the conventional plastic bag by the media, environmentalists and bioplastics lobbyists are completely unfounded.
“Based on these findings, the efforts to eliminate conventional plastic bags and to replace them with supposedly better environmental alternatives have to be considered both misguided and without any scientific basis. In particular. there is absolutely no justification for the aggressive promotion of compostable bioplastics by bioplastics proponents as alternatives to conventional plastics.”
(Original article)
April 6th, 2011
by EPI Marketing / EPI News, Industry
Compared to other carrier bags, plastic is the better choice when it comes to long term impact on the environment.
Vancouver, Canada (April 6, 2011) – A recent study comparing the environmental benefits of carrier bag alternatives has raised some serious questions as to whether the vilification of the common plastic bag is justified. The UK Environmental Agency (EA) is the leading public body protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales. Their most recent report on Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags highlights that light-weight, plastic carrier bags are not necessarily the blight on society that they are commonly portrayed to be.
In fact, the in-depth life cycle assessment (LCA) that compares global warming potentials for different types of bags indicates that these light-weight plastic bags compare favorably with many of the alternatives that are touted as being more environmentally responsible. According to the LCA, Paper, starch-based, and cotton alternatives all have higher global warming potential than the conventional plastic bag. The EA found that a cotton shopping bag has to be re-used at least 131 times to have less environmental impact than a standard single-use plastic bag. Paper bags would have to be used at least 3 times to have less environmental impact than the single-use plastic bag. In actuality most cotton bags are used only 51 times and paper bags are discarded immediately, making them worse than single-use plastic bags.
The key to reducing the impact of all types of carrier bags is to reuse them as much as possible. Re-using lightweight carrier bags as bin liners produces greater benefits than recycling bags due to the benefits of avoiding the production of the bin liners they replace. Even with only a single use option The HDPE bag has the lowest environmental impact, in nine out of the 10 impact categories. Furthermore, the report points out that the benefits of recycling and composting are not significant when it comes to carrier bags and that re-using the bags is a much better environmental practice.
While the study falls short in recognizing the benefits of oxo-biodegradable additives in addressing the problem of plastic waste accumulation and persistence in the environment, there is no doubt that the report conclusions are in favor of conventional plastic carrier bags. The study shows that the attacks on the conventional plastic bag by the media, environmentalists and bioplastics lobbyists are unfounded.
EPI Environmental Products Inc., as a producer of oxo-biodegradable additives used to render conventional plastics degradable and biodegradable, welcomes this type of scientific approach to examining environmental benefits. EPI’s Totally Degradable Plastic Additives® are distributed all throughout the world to manufacturers who produce plastic carrier bags, films, packaging, covers, and a wide variety of other applications. Established in 1991 in Canada, EPI Environmental Technologies Inc. (EPI) with its UK subsidiary EPI (Europe) Ltd. (EPI) has become a world leader in making plastics environmentally responsible.
