Tag Archives: Plastics

The Body Shop plans to make packaging out of pollution

The Body Shop is looking to extract harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere to make containers and bottle lids.

The Body Shop

It’s believed that by 2020 The Body Shop scheme could reduce the number of plastics made from oil by 70%.

The packaging would use methane, a waste product which is said to be more harmful to the atmosphere than C02 when the same amounts are compared, and customers would be encouraged to bring the bottles back to be refilled.

The California-based company which makes the new plastic, Newlight Technologies, collects methane from farms and natural gas refineries.

As explained in the video, the gas is put into a reactor with enzymes to absorb the carbon and oxygen, rearranging the particles into a solid material known as ‘Air Carbon’.

This can be melted down to make pellets which can then be shaped into containers, The packs will adorn the retailer’s range of body butters.

Founded by the late Anita Roddick in 1976, The Body Shop became renowned for its ethical and environmental stance, being against animal testing and encouraging recycling.

For more information on The Body Shop’s unique recycled and plastic packaging projects follow the link:

HOW DOES OUR RECYCLING SCHEME WORK?

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UK plastics packaging recycling lagging behind EU

UK plastics packaging recycling

UK plastics packaging recycling rate during 2013 was below the EU average, according to the latest data.

Paper and cardboard Packaging recycling rates performed far better, ahead of the EU average, and across all materials the UK ranked 15th out of 28 states.

Figures published via the European Commission’s data website Eurostat show that the UK recorded a plastics packaging recycling rate of 31.6% in 2013, compared to an average of 37.3% across all 28 EU member states.

The UK ranked alongside Estonia, Hungary and Luxembourg, which achieved rates of 28.1%, 30.8% and 32.2% respectively.

Better performing member states such as Sweden and the Netherlands recorded plastics recycling rates of 45.6% and 46.2% respectively.

However, plastics packaging recycling was up more than 6% on 2012 in the UK, the largest single 12-month increase in over a decade.

The figures come as the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) consults on whether to amend the UK’s plastics packaging target for 2016 in the wake of market pressure.

The target currently stands at 52%, and is set to rise to 57% in 2017.

But under the proposals, the current target may fall to 48% – increasing by 1% each year until the end of the decade.

With glass recycling the UK performed far better but still failed to meet the EU average, recycling 68.3% of its glass packaging in 2013 against the EU’s overall total of 72.8%.

And on metals, the country also lagged far behind many of its EU counterparts, recycling 57.4% of packaging compared to an average of 73.9%.

The UK did however recycle more paper and cardboard packaging compared to many EU states, achieving an 89.4% rate compared to an average of 84.7%

Across all material streams, the UK performed somewhat better with 64.6% of packaging recycled – ranking it 15th out of 28 states. This compares to an EU-wide average of 65.3% for the year.

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Oxobiodegradable plastics and bioplastics sectors continue to face off

The war of words has continued between Oxobiodegradable Plastics And Bioplastics Sectors.

Oxobiodegradable Plastics And Bioplastics Sectors

The Oxobiodegradable Plastics And Bioplastics Sectors Association (OPA) has reiterated that the EN13432 standard is irrelevant to their plastics because it is a standard for testing biodegradation in the special conditions found in industrial composting facilities”.

The key component of the EN 13432 standard is the need to recover packaging waste on the basis of industrial composting.

“Oxo-biodegradable plastic is designed to biodegrade if it gets into the in the open environment, and no reputable oxo-biodegradable additive supplier would claim that it will comply with EN13432. Suppliers of any kind of plastic do not however print anything on products made with their plastic. This is done by the companies whose products they are,“ the OPA said in a statement.

The OPA has accused European bioplastics of lobbying for the hydro-biodegradable plastics industry, and claimed it needs to consider misleading marketing claims.

“For example their plastic is marketed as compostable, and an ordinary consumer would therefore believe that it converts into compost – when in fact EN13432 requires it to convert into CO2 gas within 180 days. This contributes to climate-change but creates nothing of value for the soil.

Secondly, their plastic is described as bio-based which would lead consumers to believe that it is derived wholly from vegetable matter when in fact these plastics are made with up to 40% petroleum-derived material.

Thirdly, their plastics are described as renewable, but they are not renewable when you consider the fossil fuels consumed in the agricultural production and polymerisation processes.”