Gamaka Phillips
A frenzy of scientific research is going on around the world to find lasting and contributory solution to the negative impact of plastics materials (which cause litter, choking of drainage system and marine life) on the environment. A lot of technologies are being developed for recycling of plastics while other efforts are being made on other areas including how to make plastics to be bio-degradable.
The United Nations World Environment Day celebration in 2018 was on the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”.
For many stakeholders around the world including United Nations agencies, plastics manufacturers, environmental protection agencies, concerned non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the general public, who have been worried about the negative impact of non-degradable plastic materials on the environment, solution seems to have come.
The contributory solution, according to recent discovery, is using just 1% Oxo-Biodegradable (OBD) additive in the manufacture of plastics materials. This additive (OBD) is said to make any various plastic materials biodegrade after a short period of time. A number of countries in Europe, Latin America, South Asia, Middle East and Africa are already using OBD in tackling the menace of plastics that have escaped collection and therefore polluting the environment.
According to the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Associations (OPA), UK, website www.biodeg.org the use of ODB in plastic manufacturing can actually be a contributory solution to the global menace.
The OPA said that the problems caused by plastic litter in the environment has compelled governments, manufacturers and brand owners to rethink the way plastic is produced, used and their end of life..
“Many are now looking for products and technologies that are inexpensive, non-disruptive to manufacture, and can be re-used and re-cycled at the end of their useful life.
The need for Oxo-biodegradable (OBD) plastics is indeed obvious. Thousands of tons of plastic waste is escaping collection, getting into the world’s environment every day, and unless treated with just a 1% inclusion of Oxo-biodegradable Additive will remain there for decades.
Oxo-biodegradable plastics have been independently tested and found ultimately bio-degradable on land or in the sea. Perry Higgs, a Senior Scientist at Symphony Environmental Limited, UK, the leading producer of Oxo-biodegradable Additives branded d2w, says the use of Oxo-biodegradable additive creates a faster and more complete degradation which leads to bio-degradation.
He was speaking at a one-day Symposium on the menace of plastic waste, recently held in Accra Ghana, attended by the Ghana Plastics Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environmental Services Providers Association (ESPA), etc. The President of GMPA, Mr. Ebbo Botwe was said to have advocated for the use of Oxo-biodegradable (ODB) additives in Ghana to help reduce the menace of plastic waste in the Ghana environment – at least to serve as a mitigation measure to the concerns to many stakeholders in the country. In fact, he was said to have disclosed that the association has provided about 7,000 special plastic waste bins to help curb the indiscriminate dumping of waste in the environment. Information available, (https://www.symphonyenvironmental.com/solutions/oxo-biodegradable-plastic/) shows that UK-based Symphony Environmental Limited is a World leader in the development of additives to make ordinary plastic biodegradable and also has a range branded d2p which are protective technologies which enhance plastic products. Symphony’s technologies are sold into nearly 100 countries around the world, with applications in Retail, Medical and Manufacturing Industries with a focus on the protection of both the environmental and human health.
Symphony is a member of The Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association (www.biodeg.org) (OPA), the Society for the Chemical Industry (UK), and the Pacific Basin Environmental Council. There are four main features of the d2w Oxo-biodegradable technology: b Oxo-biodegradable Plastic facilitates the ultimate biodegradation of plastics on land or in seawater by bacteria, fungi or algae, within a reasonable time, so as to cause the plastic to cease to exist as such, far sooner than ordinary plastics, without causing any toxicity;
Meets a number of relevant international standards; Has same characteristics in terms of appearance, strength flexibility and functionality as normal plastic Does not just fragment and create micro-plastics, as the treated material becomes a biodegradable food source for the microbes found in these environments. So far, 23 countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirate, Brazil, Argentina, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Togo, Benin, Mauritius and Pakistan have taken regulatory actions to make the production and/or importation and the use of Bio-Degradable Plastics mandatory.
Indeed many countries around the world have realized that they cannot realistically collect all the plastic or indeed impose the restriction and or ban plastic, considering its usefulness in terms of cost, durability and economic impacts on economies.
Furthermore legislating in favor of the use of Oxo-biodegradable additives helps to support the local plastics manufacturing industry, thus securing the jobs and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people employed in this sector worldwide. Oxo-biodegradable technology would certainly be an excellent solution for Nigeria, especially for the significant plastics industry we have and those Government agencies, including the Federal Ministry of Environment, which has scheduled a national workshop in Abuja on 12th September, 2019 on the need to develop a National Plastics Life Cycle Management Policy for the country.
During the tenure of the Nigerian 8th National Assembly, a bill was introduced in the two houses on how to address the concerns of Nigerians on the issue of plastics wastes – and the best ways to handle the issue. The Plastics Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) had advocated for a win-win solution in tackling the issue.
The Oxo-biodegradable plastics technology is an additional and very attractive option which will be proposed and recommend in Nigeria. Giving consideration to the significant importance of plastics in socio-economic life of the people, especially as over 600 plastics firms in Nigeria have 350,000 employees on their payroll, it will be difficult to dispense of such jobs.
The best and most pragmatic option remains to increase the infrastructure for the collection and recycling of Plastics and at the same time make it mandatory for the use of Oxo-biodegradable additives, which will then help to mitigate the menace of plastic waste that escapes collection and ends up polluting the country.
MAN, being a representative body of all manufacturers in Nigeria and a custodian of making Nigeria an industrialized nation in the face of lean resources, should lead the discussions with the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry & Investments (FMTII) and Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEnv) to enact laws or regulations in line with other countries that have adopted the Oxo-degradable technology.
Phillips writes from Lagos.