Michael Laurier - CEO of Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc
By Michael Laurier - CEO of Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc www.d2w.net
Go into any supermarket and what do you see? - Plastic.
Not just carrier-bags, but almost everything is wrapped or bottled in plastic – from frozen peas to fresh potatoes – from sandwiches to milk - beer cans to newspapers, televisions and even ironing boards. At the back of store there are acres of shrink-wrap, pallet-wrap and bubble wrap used to deliver goods in bulk. Why? – because plastic is in most cases the best and most cost-effective way to protect goods from damage, contamination and wastage.
So why are people concerned about plastic in supermarkets? Because plastic is made from oil or natural gas, which is a finite resource? - but this is a mistake, because it is actually made from a by-product which will always be produced so long as the world needs this type of fuel, and it makes good economic and environmental sense to use the by-product.Because plastic waste is filling up the landfills? - another mistake, because plastic takes up a very small proportion of space in the average landfill.Because it is symptomatic of a “throw-away” society? Well – life moves at a much faster pace whether we like it or not. We can no longer buy milk in a jug from the corner shop, and packaging has adapted to modern life. Of course we must recycle plastic where practical, but it is not enough just to use recycled plastic because, whether recycled or not, we will never collect it all, and some will inevitably find its way into the open environment, where it could lie or float around for decades.This is the real problem - to which Symphony is supplying the solution in 92 countries worldwide. We have developed a formulation called
which is added to normal plastic at the manufacturing stage, and makes the plastic degrade at the end of its service life, by a process of oxo-biodegradation, leaving no harmful residues. We call it “Controlled-life” or “Intelligent” plastic, as it is the only type of plastic whose life can be controlled. All plastic will in time fragment and completely biodegrade, but d2w controls the process, so that the fragments are bioassimilated faster than straw and twigs and much faster than ordinary or recycled plastic. d2w has passed the usual eco-toxicity tests and does not contain “heavy-metals.” It is certified for food-contact.Plastic made with d2w costs very little extra, because it is made with the same machinery as normal plastic, and it causes no loss of jobs in the plastics industry. There is no need to change suppliers, but Symphony can supply finished-products if required.We have examined the vegetable-based or “compostable” type of plastic and we have decided not to supply it. It is far too expensive for everyday use, it has a worse Life-Cycle Assessment than ordinary plastic, and it emits methane deep in landfill. We agree with the packaging manager of Tesco who said on 20th October 2009 that they “do not see the value in packaging that can only be industrially composted” and that “local authorities do not want to touch it, as it can contaminate existing recycling schemes.” By contrast, d2w plastic can be safely recycled (see www.biodeg.org/position-papers/recycling/?domain=biodeg.org )
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