As many South Africans rush to do their part to help the environment, many companies are taking the increased “green” concerns to heart but are not delivering the product. Plastic items with the term “biodegradable” continue to break up into small pieces, however, they remain toxic and are potentially a health hazard.
South Africa has started to buy into a recently developed form of plastic that degrades rapidly, dubbed oxo-biodegradable plastic. Environmentalists have challenged the claims that the plastic is actually biodegradable. This has lead to concerns over incorrect labeling, and now some are calling for government regulation to combat misleading consumer information.
"The South African government is] far too quick to allow companies to release products without any sort of oversight," lamented Muna Lakhani, national coordinator of Durban-based Institute for Zero Waste in Africa. "The number of new chemical products released every year, with zero requirements for environmental, social and health impact assessment, is of great concern."
Oxo-biodegradable plastic is petroleum-based with an added chemical which breaks up the product into tiny little pieces. As a result, these plastics don’t take up space in landfills but they produce toxic dust that pollutes the environment and is known to be detrimental to human health. Last year, British manufacturer Symphony Environmental Technologies clinched a deal to supply plastic packaging to Albany Bakeries, a subsidiary of South African food giant Tiger Brands. It claims its packaging contains an added chemical compound that causes the plastic to degrade in less than six months, leaving behind no fragments or harmful residues.
However, environmental experts argue this is not good enough to be rated biodegradable. "To be beneficial to the environment, a polymer [plastic] should disappear completely. In biodegradation this means a natural conversion to CO2 and water," explained Bruno de Wilde, lab manager at Organic Waste Systems (OWS), a Belgium consulting company that tests and certifies the biodegradability of consumer products and packaging.
Another problem with oxo-biodegradable plastics is that it can only be safely and successfully recycled if they are captured into the recycling stream within a few days of use. "In waste collection you don’t know how old plastics are, so it is likely that in the mechanical sorting process, oxo-biodegradable plastics could end up in the manufacture of other products and continue to degrade," said David Hughes, executive director of the Plastics Federation of South Africa who has convinced industry heavyweights like Coca-Cola and Woolworths to steer clear of oxo-biodegradable plastic. "Recycling companies won’t want to take products made from oxo-biodegradable plastics. This will disrupt the recycling industry which is creating jobs in South Africa," he added.
Environmental experts like de Wilde, warn that the minuscule plastic fragments the bag degrades in to may enter the food chain and pose health risks. Most plastics contain harmful chemicals, such as sulphur and ethylene oxides, which can cause respiratory and reproductive problems. The plastics have not met the internationally-accepted standards for compostable and biodegradable packaging which ensures that a product breaks down completely in a landfill or an industrial compost heap. To be certified as biodegradable, a product must be fully tested and approved by internationally-recognized bodies, such as the Institute for Standards Research (ISR) and the International Standards Organization (ISO). As there is no certification system in place which distinguishes between the terms ‘degradable’ and ‘biodegradable’ in South Africa, it has meant that companies are able to promote their packaging as being biodegradable and therefore environmentally-friendly.
"The industry lobby in South Africa is powerful, and our government blindly accepts anything that, for example, the US Food and Drug Administration approves," explained Lakhani. He calls for environmental activists to lobby the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism as well as the health department to ensure South Africa’s environmental regulations match international standards.
"I would like to see a body established that would aim to phase out unsustainable and unsafe products and processes, including many plastics, and be tasked with replacing these with safe, local, renewable and job-creating alternatives," added Lakhani.