Biodegradable Versus Degradable.

Are you struggling sometime trying to open Plastic Packaging /Containers ?.
Not so many years ago they were easy enough to tear,crumple up,dispose of,now they are a Nightmare, in more ways than one.

They classify them as Degradable Plastic and to a certain degree they are correct,the only problem Degradable Plastics can take hundreds of years for their Molecular Structure to break down,depending on conditions.
The Seas,Waterways,Canals,Rivers, by the time they break down Molecular Structure the damage has been done.
They will cause terrible deaths to our Fish,Sea Creatures,Mammals and Bird Life.
This Packaging years ago was made as Biodegradable Food Grade Plastics.
Why change a workable Product?
Was it a Cost cutter in the manufacturing ? Using less additives in the Process?.
Cheaper Ingredients ??.

If it was a cost saving decision the world is now paying the cost for it.

I was employed for 34 years on the Process and Quality Control Department In Plastics.

Thank God I Retired Many Years Ago.
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I'll go one further, what's happened to lots of stuff that was previously in glass bottles that could be re-used (better than re-cycling), and is now in plastic containers that are only fit for chucking in a recycling bin.

Beer and Cider, previously in glass bottles, is now more and more in either plastic bottles or metal cans which, for homebrewers, are completely useless for re-use.

One pint/440ml glass vinegar bottles have been replaced with plastic bottles, making them unusable for pasteurising home pressed/extracted juices.

Whatever next, PLASTIC jam jars, unsuitable for re-using for home made jams, chutneys and other preserves?

Both Mrs Scrungee and I can remember being rewarded (as part of our pocket money) by being given empty bottles to take back to the local shop [1] and redeem the deposit against sweets.



[1] It was only some years after we were married that we realised she was visiting the same shop near her grandparents, that was just around the corner from my parents at the same time I was also using it regularly, I think there's some theory above everybody's paths crossing before actually making contact.

 

They make plastic at the petrochemicals plant near me. It's a real eye opener having worked there for a time.

Crude oil is piped and shipped in from the middle east in crazy volume.

Some of that oil is used to fuel the plant. Most of the rest becomes plastic pellets.... sometimes.

Oil goes into a massive flask thing, about 100 ft tall at a guess. Huge amounts of energy are used to heat one end to very high temperature while freezing the other end to extremely low temperature. This sets off a chemical reaction. IF the mix is correct, AND the plant variables are all exactly right, then plastic pellets form. If anything is wrong, a worthless sludge forms instead.

The plastic pellets form in one position in the flask. The temperature differential causing the molecules to form into plastic. The rest is byproduct. Extremely flammable gas, and sludge.

If everything is going to plan, some of the extremely flammable gas is sold. If any sensor gives a signal outside of tolerance, an automated safety system vents the whole lot to the flare stack.

So huge amounts of energy used on site, the plastic pellets are now bagged up into massive bulk bags. These bags are just like giant bin liners, and it's not unusual for them to occasionally rip.

These big bags of plastic pellets travel by road to the sea port, to be loaded onto ships to travel all the way to China to be made into stuff. Not all of it gets there. Spillages mean it just goes in the sea. We often see it all over the beach as we're not that far from the port it departs from.

Having eventually made it all the way to China, lots of coal is burned to furl their factories as they make plastic crap for us. Said plastic crap then goes on another ship, and travels half way round the world back to us, where it ends up in our shops. We then buy it, find its already broke, and bin it. Sadly this isn't the end of the process. It's only the beginning, because so far it's only been a couple of months since it started life as crude oil. Now it's going to be about 500 years before it breaks down into natural molecules.

But it's lightweight. And transporting the finished product produces less co2 than transporting the equivalent product made of glass or wood or anything else, and for some folks, that makes it eco.

 

Then tax wastfull disposable & single use stuff, increase deposits (should be popular with kids), then people who buy products in the disposable/single use containers will pay the disposal/recycling costs up front, and those jam/chutney/sauce/wine/beer/cider makers, vegetable & fruit preservers, apple juice pasteurisers, eyc. who re-use the same containers [1] year after year wont have to pay for processing/dispossl of other peoples discarded containers.


[1] We have around 1,500 bottles, jars, etc. and keep re-using them, plus ask for empties to be be returned.

 

I remember those days! When construction sites were unfenced and became children's playgrounds out of working hours and we would roam around collecting the masses of empty beer, cider and Guinness bottles that the construction workers had been drinking and we made a small fortune (for us, sometimes more than our pocket money) redeeming the deposits.

Oh, those were the days, no 'nanny state' health & safety then

 

Why do we have those little plastic trays in the supermarket for just about everything from broccoli spears to cheese these days?

I’ve taken to buying loose fruit and veg as much as possible and placing it in the PAPER bags they have for mushrooms and ignoring the plastic bags. Perhaps if enough people do that supermarket management will get the message that WE DONT WANT PLASTIC!

 

I was thinking about this some more. It occurs to me that plastic is not inherently bad.

For some applications it is possibly the best choice.

For example, take car fuel tanks. They used to be made of steel. They'd take quite a lot of energy to produce, though probably not as much as their plastic equivalent. But the plastic tank weighs less, and is less likely to corrode and start leaking hydrocarbon vapours into the atmosphere.

I think anything that is expected to last and be used for a long time is possibly a good candidate for plastic.

Disposable packaging though, plastic is in my opinion often inappropriate and completely unnecessary and wasteful.

 

Cor, if they pay money for empty plastic bottles, I reckon I could make about £1,000 p.a. collecting them from supermarket car parks and beaches.

Remember the good old days when Teso had recycling machines that paid Clubcard Points for any scrap of tin can you put in, regardless of how small the pieces were that you'd cut them into?

Might be time to start stockpiling empty plastic bottles ...

Plastic bottle tax: 22p return scheme to protect oceans from tide of waste

 

I'm all in favour of less plastic and recycling where possible. Like many on GC I can remember getting money back on lemonade bottles etc. Even when I was at university you could get money back on beer bottles, especially handy at the end of term although turning up at the local "offy" with a sports bag full of empties was not always appreciated.
A lot of the problem with plastic is that different areas of the country recycle different types also using different plastics in the same packaging complicates recycling.
I have found that plastic fizzy drink bottles can be used for home brewed beer, you might have to monitor the pressure in them a bit more often, but I've had no problems.
Locally Totnes now have this shop http://thezerowasteshop.co.uk/ other shops are following the same approach.

 

They're much safer, if overprimed with sugar, PET bottles bulge and some CO2 can be released by partially unscrewing the cap, glass bottles fitted with crown caps explode. Modern glass beer/cider bottles are being made increasing thinner and aren't up to containing homebrew pressures, just carefully controlled artificial carbonation.

 

Possibly Scrungee but if the tax appears there probably won't be many to collect as others will be collecting and claiming the returns too.

 

Cor, there's millions to be made from recycling!

Alleged fraudster made €1m by 'recycling' bottles, German court hears