Misconceptions around degradable plastics

In response to an article about oxo-degradable plastics in the Exchange Morning Post, Dr Jim Lunt wrote a letter to the editor expressing his concern that the article was fuelling misconceptions that these kinds of plastics are harmless to the environment. “There is also no reputable evidence that these polymer fragments are attacked by microorganisms. There is actually no bona fide published evidence that in a sealed landfill, or municipal composting that these products containing such additives will degrade to simple biologically assimilative or their direct energy recovery components “, writes Lunt.