Photodegradable Shopping Bags

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Photodegradable Shopping Bags

• Presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio
  Committee on the Environment

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Agenda

• To introduce a new invention that reduces plastic
  bag litter to manageable levels
• To provide evidence that the invention works
• To raise concerns about increasing the thickness
  of the bag

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Objective

• To create a space for a technological solution to
  the problem of plastic bag litter
• To delay the regulations for three months so that
  we can perform a large scale trial on the new
  bags
• And report to the Portfolio Committee on our
  findings so that the regulations can be amended
  accordingly

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Plastic Bag Regulations

• Are about LITTER

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Our invention

• Developed at University of Pretoria
• An ingredient that is added when plastic bags are
  manufactured
• It causes plastic bag litter to disappear quickly

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Effect on litter

• 10 times less plastic bag litter in the
  environment

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How does it work

• The plastic bag dries up like a leaf
• The wind/rain breaks it into smaller and smaller
  pieces
• The pieces are reduced to a fine powder that is
  harmless to man, animals and plants
• The powder ultimately degrades into simple
  compounds like water and carbon dioxide

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Does it reduce litter?

• Beverage carriers are photodegradable in US
• Required in terms of US Public Law
• In effect for two decades
• 10 times reduction in litter
• Photodegradable plastic mulch film in same fields
  for over 10 years

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Testing

• Production trials at 3 of largest manufacturers
  in SA
• Market trial at Food World Stores
• SABS/UP testing according to US Federal
  Regulations
• WESSA has endorsed the technology

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Made to Degrade TM Bags

• REDUCE Bags use less plastic
• REUSE Bags can be reused
• RECYCLE Bags do not interfere with recycling of
  plastics
• DEGRADE Bags will quickly degrade if littered

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Plastic bag litter

• Makes up 5-10 of roadside litter and 2 of beach
  litter
• Costs 25 times more than garbage to collect
• Widely dispersed
• The thicker the bag, the longer it lasts

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Regulations

• Thick bags for
• Reuse
• Recycling
• BUT increasing the gauge means increasing the
  plastic per bag by 76 (32 000 tons)!
• AND thicker bags are very expensive

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Plastic Bag Agreement

• Includes charging for bags
• As soon as you charge for bags you immediately
  get a reduction in demand, people find
  substitutes (Ireland, P Ryan)
• You dont need to increase gauge to charge for
  bags

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Problems

• Limits on re-use
• Contamination on the bags
• Already reused as kitchen waste bags
• Limits of recycling
• Uneconomical to collect
• If all refuse bags are made from recyclate,
  maximum market of 5 000 tons
• Environmental impact of substitutes

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What does this mean?

• Recycling simply doesnt work for plastic bag
  litter
• RSA lt 1
• UK lt 1 in 200
• The consumer will suffer an unnecessary cost
• A thicker bag longer lasting litter

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Substitutes for Plastic Bags

• Only viable substitute is paper
• Production of Paper vs. Plastic bags
• 30 more energy is consumed
• 70 more air pollution results
• 90 more water is used and
• 5 000 more water is polluted
• PAPER BAGS ARE NOT REGULATED

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Effect of substituting plastic bags
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If we switch to a degradable bag

• The litter will drop from 800 million bags in the
  environment at any one time to as little as 80
  million with NO change in demand!
• The consumer will benefit because the degradable
  bags are less expensive
• 15 cents compared to over 30 cents for a thicker
  bag

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Question Answer Session

• Felix de Kleijn
• 083 296 5167