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Biodegradable and compostable plastics in the

environment
What is the problem?
There is global concern about the scale of plastic consumption. A significant amount
of plastics end up in the environment, where it can be highly persistent.

It is not only visible plastics that are cause for concern, but also the smaller micro-
plastics that form when larger pieces of plastic are fragmented through weathering
processes. These micro-plastics can create ‘plastic smog’ in parts of the ocean and can
accumulate in soils. Although their full impacts are still not known, recent evidence
has demonstrated that micro-plastics are consumed by filter-feeders such as shellfish
and can enter the human food chain.1 Extensive research efforts are underway in
New Zealand and overseas to understand both the scale and potential impacts of this
problem.

Single-use plastics only represent a part of the overall volume of plastics that are used.
However, they are visible and front-of-mind for many consumers, who confront items
such as soft plastic shopping bags, coffee cups and takeaway containers on a daily
basis. Recent surveys have shown that many New Zealanders would like to see more
done to reduce single-use plastics, and some businesses are responding. Support for
greater government leadership has come from several quarters, including the country’s
mayors and Retail NZ.2

To meet consumer concerns, more single-use products are appearing in the market
that claim to be biodegradable or compostable. At face value, these are appealing
claims, suggesting that the products will break down into benign end-products that
are then seamlessly integrated back into nature. However, the reality is much more
complex. Whether or not the substances into which plastics break down are benign
depends on what they were made from. Furthermore, some claims may amount to
little more than greenwash.

This situation is as confusing for consumers looking to decrease their impact on the
environment as it is for businesses trying to respond to public concern.
The Commissioner has looked into what we know about biodegradable and
compostable single-use plastics and has asked whether they offer a more
environmentally sound alternative to conventional plastics.

 
What are plastics?
The word plastic is derived from the ancient Greek term plastikós, meaning ‘shapable’
or ‘mouldable’. Plastics are made up of large chemical units known as polymers,
which are in turn made up of repeated smaller units called monomers. Many polymers
are capable of being moulded into different shapes when heated, a characteristic that
has likely given this group of materials the name plastic.

We generally think of plastics as being manufactured from petrochemical (or

fossil-fuel)-based sources.3 For example, the gas ethene (ethylene) is produced by
reacting fossil hydrocarbons with steam at very high temperatures and is used to
create polythene (polyethylene), the polymer that we commonly see in the form of
plastic bags at the supermarket. But plastics can also be derived from other sources,
including microbes and plants. These plastics are known as ‘bio-based’ plastics.

Plastics often incorporate additives that change their specific properties, such as their
strength and durability. These include UV stabilisers, anti-oxidants, dyes and flame
retardants.
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What does it mean to say that a plastic is biodegradable?

Biodegradable means that an item can be broken down by the action of living
organisms, typically microbes. In the case of biodegradable plastics, this process is
enabled by enzymes that are produced by microbes that use the plastic as a source of
energy – the microbes are essentially eating the plastic for food.

It is important that biodegradation is not confused with other natural processes.

For instance, most plastics will eventually break down into fragments through
the weathering effects of sunlight, heat and friction if given enough time. This is
degradation, not bio-degradation. To biodegrade, the polymers need to be broken
down through the action of living cells into simple chemical elements.

The speed of biodegradation varies greatly and is highly dependent on the

environment in which the plastics end up. This will affect the value of the
biodegradable product – few would consider a plastic bag to be usefully
biodegradable if the process takes hundreds of years. Likewise, biodegradability will
be of questionable value if the breakdown process gives rise to toxic products. This is
where standards are helpful.

New Zealand does not have a standard for biodegradable or compostable plastics.
However, some plastic manufacturers have voluntarily sought certification using
some of the existing international standards so that they can label their products
accordingly. An industry working group has been set up to consider whether adoption
of a standard in New Zealand would be useful.
What do biodegradable plastics break down into?
Ultimately, a biodegradable plastic will break down into small molecules, such as
carbon dioxide, methane and water, as well as waste from microbial activity.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development uses the term ultimate
biodegradability – the level of degradation achieved when the test compound has
been totally utilised by micro-organisms resulting in the production of carbon dioxide,
water, mineral salts and new microbial cellular constituents (biomass).4

Plastics, including biodegradable ones, often have other components mixed in as

‘additives’ for various reasons. These additives may be released when the plastics
degrade.5

The speed of biodegradation will also be important in terms of the environmental

impact.

What does it mean to say that a plastic is compostable?

Composting involves the breakdown of biological material such as green waste from
garden clippings or food scraps into humus.6 Industrial compost facilities are designed
to accelerate microbial growth by controlling moisture, airflow, microbial activity and
the proportions of different organic wastes. As the microbes consume the waste, they
generate heat, which accelerates the breakdown. The resulting product, compost, is
then used to return organic matter to the soil.

Home composting involves a similar process but on a much smaller scale, so it may
not generate as much heat and will likely result in a slower breakdown process. Home
composting is also much more varied depending on which method is used.

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What does it mean to say that a plastic is certified as

biodegradable?
A product that is certified biodegradable should meet a robust international standard.
Examples of such standards include those that apply in Europe and Australia.

These standards include a range of tests for biodegradability that consider different
receiving environments, such as wastewater treatment plants, freshwater or marine
environments. The ability of plastic to biodegrade specifically in compost is explained
further below.

These tests typically include the following:

• Chemical analysis of the starting material: checking to ensure that the components
do not contain unacceptable levels of harmful chemicals, such as heavy metals.
• Biodegradation: measuring how much of the carbon that was present in
the starting material has been consumed and respired by microbes. In some
environments, microbes also produce methane, which needs to be measured.
• Disintegration: checking that no large fragments remain.
• Toxicity of the degraded material: testing whether the degraded material will
have an impact on the growth of organisms that are commonly present in the
environment where the material is intended to degrade.

Questions have been raised around the extent to which standards adequately address
all of the receiving environments where plastic litter could end up.

What does it mean to say a plastic is certified as compostable?

Products that are certified compostable will usually have been tested in commercial
composting conditions. They will not necessarily biodegrade in a home compost
heap. Standards for home composting are very different in respect of the length of
time over which products are tested for and the temperatures required. Few home
composting standards exist.

International standards for compostability (home or commercial) typically contain four

tests:

• Chemical analysis of the starting material: this involves checking the components
to ensure they do not contain unacceptable levels of harmful chemicals such as
heavy metals.
• Biodegradation test: measuring how much of the carbon present in the starting
material has been consumed and respired by microbes in the compost.
• Disintegration: this involves checking that large fragments do not remain.
• Toxicity of the compost: testing if the resulting compost will have an impact on
living organisms such as earthworms or germinating plants.

A product that is certified as compostable should meet a robust international

standard. Examples of such standards include those that apply in Europe and
Australia.

Do plastics have to be bio-based to be biodegradable or

compostable?
No. These plastics can be made from biological sources, such as plants or microbes,
or fossil sources. Biodegradability and compostability is a matter of chemistry, the
disposal environment and time.

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What types of plastics are biodegradable or compostable?

The following groups of plastics are considered biodegradable or compostable, based
on the description provided by European Bioplastics. Whether these plastics can be
certified as biodegradable or compostable depends on whether they pass the tests
required for certification. Whether they can be biodegraded or composted as intended
depends on the conditions in their place of disposal.

Biodegradable bio-based plastics: These types of plastics are sourced from

biologically produced compounds and can be broken down by microbial action. The
following examples fall into this category.

Polylactic acid (PLA)

PLA is made from lactic acid, which is usually produced by fermenting sugar or
starch from vegetable sources such as corn and is then processed to form a polymer.
Other chemicals may also be used in the PLA production process or introduced as
additives. Products made from PLA include food packaging and coffee cups (which
may use PLA for the lid or cup lining). PLA also has medical uses, such as dissolvable
stitches, as it breaks down into lactic acid, which is easily processed by the human
body.

Poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs)

PHAs are polyesters that can be synthesised by microbes that are fed starches and
cellulose. They have a wide range of potential uses – for example, disposable cutlery,
bags, bottles and cups.

Thermoplastic starch (TPS)

Starch is a polymer composed of glucose monomers that is found in many vegetable

and fruit sources. Unprocessed starch does not generally have desirable properties
(for example, it does not flow at a high temperature and so cannot be moulded
easily). Therefore, it is often mixed with other plastics to form a stronger and more
malleable material known as TPS.

Biodegradable fossil-based plastics: These types of plastics are sourced from

petroleum-based products and can be broken down into simple base compounds
through microbial action. The following examples are in this category.

Polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT)

PBAT belongs to the polyester family of polymers and is produced from petroleum-
based substances. It is known for its flexibility and strength, and is used to make
biodegradable plastics, including plastic bags and wraps.

Polycaprolactone (PCL)

PCL is often mixed with starch-based polymers to produce a range of products used
in the packaging and biomedical fields.

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What types of plastics are NOT biodegradable or compostable?

Non-biodegradable fossil-based plastics: There are many types of conventional,
non-biodegradable fossil-based plastics. These are extremely durable, often taking
centuries to break down depending on where they end up.

Oxo-degradable plastics: Oxo-degradable plastics are essentially conventional

plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene that contain additives known as ‘pro-
oxidants’. These additives are typically metal salts, which are intended to speed up
degradation of the plastics into smaller fragments without any help from microbes.

Fragmentation is facilitated by exposure to sunlight and air, which causes oxidation – a

chemical reaction that leads to the loss of electrons and often involves oxygen – hence
the name oxo-degradable. Oxo-degradable plastics typically result in a large number
of micro-fragments or micro-plastic pieces. A key concern is that oxo-degradable
plastics may be contributing to micro-plastic pollution in the marine environment.7

If fragmentation occurs, some biodegradation may occur in the right environment.8

Oxo-degradable plastics are sometimes marketed as biodegradable. However, they

should not be unless they pass robust , as they do not pass the existing international
standards for biodegradability. Beyond that, a 2018 report cocluded that:

“The evidence suggests that oxo-degradable plastic is not suitable for any form
of composting or anaerobic digestion and will not meet the current standards for
packaging recoverable through composting in the EU.”9
There is a lack of conclusive evidence relating to the benefits of oxo-degradable
plastics, and restrictions on their use are being considered in Europe.10

In New Zealand, two oxo-degradable bag manufacturers have been charged under
the Fair Trading Act for false claims regarding the environmental benefits of these
products.

Non-biodegradable bio-based plastics: These types of bio-based plastics are

indistinguishable from conventional fossil-based plastics in terms of their chemical
composition, properties and decomposition characteristics. As the name suggests,
they are manufactured from at least some biologically produced compounds, typically
of plant or microbial origin. However, the terms ‘bio-based’ or ‘plant-based’ can
be ambiguous as they do not convey what proportion of the plastic is bio-based.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) illustrates this problem.

PET – partially bio-based but not biodegradable

PET is a polyester that is manufactured from ethylene glycol and either dimethyl
terephthalate or terephthalic acid. Ethlylene glycol comprises approximately 30%
of the final PET material and can be made from plants, such as sugar cane or sugar
beet. However, plant-based terephthalic acid is not yet available, which would be
required to make PET 100% bio-based. Large companies, including Coca-Cola, are
currently investing in research on ways to produce the entire PET plastic from bio
sources.11

What happens when biodegradable or compostable plastics end

up as litter?
While some certified biodegradable or compostable products can be completely
broken down into benign molecules within a reasonable timeframe, this will only
occur under the right conditions. The presence of heat, moisture, and microbes would
help create favourable conditions. For example, while a biodegradable coffee cup may
break down within several weeks in a carefully controlled commercial compost facility,
the same cup may take decades to break down in the ocean.12 This means that such
products may not necessarily biodegrade – it depends on how they are disposed of.

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Which plastics can I compost?

Some plastic products have been tested and are certified to break down in home
compost bins. However, there are currently no guidelines or recommended methods
for home composting. Most certified compostable products are designed to be
processed in industrial composting facilities at the end of their usable life, where the
temperature, moisture and oxygen levels can be carefully controlled.

In some parts of New Zealand, organic waste such as garden clippings and food
scraps are collected for composting in an industrial composting facility. However,
these collection schemes do not readily accept compostable packaging. For example,
Christchurch has a kerbside collection for organic waste, but packaging is not
allowed.13 At some events, compostable packaging material may be collected
alongside food waste and sent to composters, provided strict protocols are followed.

Even where collection systems for organic waste are available, composters cannot
always accept compostable packaging. A 2017 survey of 27 composting facilities
found that only about half would accept compostable packaging such as coffee
cups lined with PLA.14 Composters face a number of challenges with compostable
packaging, including:

• identifying and sorting compostable packaging from other packaging

• getting the proportion of food waste to packaging material right (this may be
compromised if a facility receives an influx of one particular type of packaging
material)
• variation in the form of the material, which can influence the process – e.g. a thick
plastic fork takes longer to compost than a thin takeway food container
• the processing methods that are used in their particular composting facility – these
vary substantially, with some facilities being ill-equipped to process certain items.
For example, in open composting environments, loose items such as plastic bags
could blow away
• the materials that can be accepted – many facilities accept green waste but are not
consented to accept food waste or compostable packaging, and so cannot process
these items
• the components of the packaging, some of which can affect organic certification.15

These challenges need to be addressed if genuinely biodegradable or compostable

packaging is to be biodegraded as intended.

The Compostable Packaging Standard Adoption Working Group (CPSA-WG) has

been established to pursue agreement on standards and labelling. This work may
help resolve some challenges for consumers and composters around standards and
labelling, but some of the complexities faced by composters may remain, e.g. getting
the right balance of packaging to food waste, and the identification and separation of
non-compostable packaging.

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Can I recycle biodegradable plastics?

Some types of biodegradable plastics can be recycled, others cannot. Biodegradable
plastics can cause problems for recyclers if they get mixed up with plastics destined for
recycling16 because they can render these unrecyclable. It all depends on the type and
amount of biodegradable plastic.

Overseas, problems with incompatibility have sometimes resulted in mixed recyclable

and compostable plastics being sent to landfills because of contamination with other
plastics.17

Some challenges for recycling include:

• PLA – this is not suitable for recycling in New Zealand and can also pose
challenges for PET recycling because it is difficult to sort without special technology
(as it often resembles PET) and can reduce the quality of the recycled material.18
• Oxo-degradable plastics – there are questions around the recyclability of these
plastics as they include additives to make them fragment, which may weaken the
recycled plastic.19
• Starch-based plastics – some of these plastics can be recycled, but others
cannot. Starch-based polymers are incompatible with some conventional plastics,
so they should not be mixed. For example, the Warehouse Group’s new starch-
based bags carry a warning not to recycle them.

What happens if biodegradable or compostable plastics end up in

a landfill?
In New Zealand, municipal general waste landfills receive the bulk of domestic waste,
including many types of plastics.20

Because composting and recycling biodegradable products can be challenging and

demanding, much of this packaging currently ends up in landfills. The extent to which
a biodegradable compostable plastic will break down in a landfill depends on the
amount of air, water and microbial activity. Digestion occurs at highly variable rates
and sometimes not at all.

While landfills are not designed to promote biodegradation, biodegradable or

compostable plastics placed in a landfill may be broken down via anaerobic digestion,
in the same way that other organic waste is. However, it is unclear if this always
happens or how long it may take.

When biodegradable plastics break down in a landfill via anaerobic digestion, they
release some methane and carbon dioxide, which are greenhouse gases.

Water that comes in contact with waste, or leachate, is also an issue that landfills
need to deal with. Leachate can be a risk to nearby surface and ground water if not
managed carefully – for example, by having a lined and sealed landfill facility with
leachate collection and treatment. If toxic compounds are present in plastics, they may
contribute to leachate risks.

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So am I making a difference by putting biodegradable or

compostable products in the right bin?
The bin you choose matters. However, how much you help the environment depends
on how good the disposal services that will deal with your rubbish are.

In theory, certified biodegradable products could be processed in compost facilities.

However, practicalities mean that composters cannot always accept these products –
and unless the product has a corresponding recycling scheme in place in New Zealand,
it cannot be recycled.

These challenges for waste management facilities highlight the need for clearer
guidance on disposal methods. The Commissioner has written to the Minister for the
Environment urging clarity of guidance on disposal methods for compostable and
biodegradable plastics.

Are biodegradable or compostable plastics better for the

environment than conventional plastics?
It depends.

Biodegradation means that the plastic will not persist in the environment for as long.
However, it should not be viewed as a way of dealing with litter. If littered, even
certified biodegradable plastics may not break down in the way expected.

Composting may be a way of diverting waste from landfill, but the ability to deal with
compostable plastics depends on the availability of facilities to process this waste.

Compostable or biodegradable plastics may contain additives. Questions remain as to

whether currently available standards adequately address these additives. If additives
are present, ultimate biodegradation into small molecules may not be possible within
timeframes that reduce or remove their environmental impact.21

There are also questions around the climate change implications of breakdown of
biodegradable and compostable plastics.

Are bio-based plastics better for the environment than fossil-based

plastics?
While the raw materials that are used to produce conventional plastics are generally
sourced from fossil-fuel production, plastics can be made from many different raw
materials, including plants and microbes. The source of the plastic does not determine
whether it is biodegradable or not.
There is no simple answer to the question of whether bio-based plastics are better
than fossil-based plastics, as the entire ‘life-cycle’ of any alternative must be
considered and contrasted. There are several key considerations.

The properties of the plastic: How does the bio-based material perform when
being used? Does it last longer? Is more material required to do the same job?

Renewable resource: Is it a renewable resource? What are the advantages of using a

renewable resource?

Energy consumption: How much energy is used in the extraction, production and
transport of the plastic?

Pollution: What pollutants, including greenhouse gases, are released during the life-
cycle of the product?

Land use: Are new crops required to produce the raw materials that may take up

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land that is needed for food production? Or are the raw materials a by-product of
some other industrial process, such as timber harvesting?

Bio-based alternatives are being researched and developed here in New Zealand and
internationally and show great promise (https://www.scionresearch.com/science/bio-
based-products-and-technologies/biopolymers-and-chemicals). However, the impact of
these alternatives remains to be seen.

Are there any solutions to the problem presented by single-use

plastics?
Use less of it!

Some types of plastics serve an important purpose or are hard to avoid. For instance,
packaging plays a role in minimising food waste, and single-use syringes used in
the healthcare sector can guard against hygiene concerns. But to minimise our
pressure on the environment as individuals, it is best to look for opportunities to
reduce our consumption of plastics, or reuse them wherever possible. Good examples
include refusing a straw at a café or taking a durable, reusable shopping bag to the
supermarket.

Product design

Products can also be designed so that they can be easily recycled into high-quality
products, reused or re-manufactured.

The circular economy/Ōhanga āmiomio22 concept (Andrew Morlet, CEO Ellen

MacArthur Foundation) captures the design principles of:
• designing out waste and pollution
• keeping products and materials in use
• regenerating natural systems.

Product stewardship is a complementary approach, whereby manufacturers take

responsibility for reducing the environmental impact of their products. Product
stewardship is embedded within the Waste Minimisation Act 2008.
he Ministry for the Environment is encouraging both circular economy and product
stewardship.

What can I do if I think a business is making a false, misleading, or

unsubstantiated claim about a product?
You can ask the business to provide evidence for its claim (e.g. certification from a
reputable certifying body) – it must be able to back up its claims.

If you are still concerned that a claim being made is potentially misleading or false,
you can complain to the Commerce Commission: http://comcom.govt.nz/the-
commission/making-a-complaint/online-complaint-form/

The Commerce Commission may investigate and can initiate court proceedings
against a business that makes claims the Commission considers breaches the Fair
Trading Act. For example, in 2013, two companies were charged under the Fair
Trading Act for misleading environmental claims.

• Eco-Pal Ltd, a company manufacturing and selling plastic rubbish bags, was found
guilty of 15 charges under the Fair Trading Act and charged $60,000 for claims
made about its plastic bags containing an additive known as d2w, which gives it
oxo-degradable properties. The bags were being marketed as biodegradable, and
suitable for domestic composting and recycling, when they were not.
• Pac-Rite Industries was fined $30,000 for misleading environmental claims relating
to its oxo-degradable plastic bags. The company is no longer selling these bags.23

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What is the chemistry of polymer breakdown?

Molecules come in all shapes and sizes, from the very small to the very large. Many
large molecules are composed of repeating, smaller units that are linked together
in long chains. Such large molecules are called polymers, and the repeating units
are called monomers. The monomers are themselves comprised of atoms of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen and other elements.

All plastics are polymers and the two terms are often used interchangably. However,
DNA and proteins are also types of polymers, as are other naturally-occurring
substances, such as rubber and cellulose.

The atoms in monomers are held together by covalent bonds – strong chemical bonds
that involve the sharing of electrons between atoms. Polymers are formed by linking
together monomers through chemical reactions that create covalent bonds between
the monomer building blocks.

Breaking the covalent bonds in polymers requires an initial input of energy. However,
this is more than outweighed by the amount of heat energy that is subsequently
released by the reaction. An example of this is the burning of plastic – it takes only a
small flame to start the fire (or initiate the reaction) but even more heat is given off as
the plastic burns.

The energy input that initiates the breakdown of polymers typically comes from
the sun in the form of heat, light or ultraviolet solar radiation. But other factors are
also important, such as the presence or absence of water, oxygen, enzymes and
other chemical compounds.24 It is therefore vital to consider the conditions in the
environment where a plastic ends up.

The speed and extent of chemical degradation depends on many factors, including
the type of plastic, the shape and thickness of the material, and the environment
in which it is placed. Historically, much effort has been put into delaying these
degradation processes (to extend the life of the polymer) – it is only recently that
efforts have turned to accelerating them.

What is the difference between aerobic and anaerobic digestion?

Aerobic digestion occurs in an oxygen-rich environment, whereas anaerobic digestion
occurs in the absence of oxygen. This lack of oxygen is similar to the conditions when
life on Earth first began. The atmosphere is now very different from this, with oxygen
supporting a vast array of aerobic life forms. However, anaerobic conditions do still
exist – such as in swamps, bogs, wetlands and waterbodies.

Anaerobic processes can occur in landfills where there is sufficient moisture. They
are also the basis of anaerobic digesters, which can be used on an industrial scale to
convert organic waste into resources such as energy and fertiliser.

The rate of anaerobic digestion is highly dependent on temperature: it is much slower

in the cold and different temperatures favour the growth of different species of
microbes.

In a landfill, the waste is dumped, compacted and covered once the site is full to seal
in the material. If enough water is present, microbes that are naturally present in the
landfill will rapidly consume all of the available oxygen in the remaining air as they
consume biological waste via aerobic digestion. The ensuing anaerobic environment
will then favour the growth of other microbes that produce methane and carbon
dioxide.

Anaerobic digestion is much slower than aerobic digestion.

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What are the climate change implications of biodegradable and

compostable plastics?
There is a fundamental difference between fossil-based and bio-based plastics in terms
of the production of greenhouse gases.

Even when a fossil-based plastic completely biodegrades, it will be adding new

carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.25 By contrast, a bio-based plastic that completely
biodegrades will effectively simply cycle the carbon that was removed from the
atmosphere when the plant grew – i.e. this is a carbon-neutral process that does not
add any more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Both types of biodegradable plastics could produce methane, a potent greenhouse

gas, if they decompose under anaerobic conditions.26

Notes
1. European Commission, 16 January 2018. Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and
the Council on the impact of the use of oxo-degradable plastic including oxo-degradable plastic carrier
bags, on the environment, p.2.
2. Retail NZ. 16 June 2017. Letter to Hon. Scott Simpson, MP; LGNZ, 17 July 2017. Huge support for levy
on single-use plastic bags. http://www.lgnz.co.nz/news-and-media/2017-media-releases/huge-support-
for-levy-on-single-use-plastic-bags/
3. Sources from oil and gas make up over 90% of the feedstock for plastics (World Economic Forum.
2016. The New Plastics Economy: rethinking the future of plastics, p. 13).
4. ECETOC, 2013. Environmental Exposure Assessment of Ionisable Organic Compounds. Technical report
No. 123, p.26. http://www.ecetoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ECETOC-TR-123-Environmental-
risk-assessment-of-ionisable-compounds.pdf
5. Grant Northcott, pers. comm, 5 July 2018.
6. The part of soil that comes from dead or decaying plant or animal matter. https://www.biology-online.
org/dictionary/Humus
7. European Commission, 2018; United Nations Environment Programme, 2015. Biodegradable plastics
and marine litter: misconceptions, concerns and impacts on marine environments, p. 22.
8. Hann et al. 2016. The impact of the use of “oxo-degradable” plastic on the Environment. Final report
for the European Commission DG Environment, p. ii.
9. European Commission, 2018, p. 3.
10. European Commission 2018, pp.7-8.
11. Anderson, 2015. Great Things Come in Innovative Packaging: An Introduction to PlantBottle™ Packag-
ing. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/plantbottle-technology
12. For example, Harrison et al. 2018 Biodegradability standards for carrier bags and plastic films in the
aquatic envirnmnent: a critical review. Royal Society Open Science 5: 171792, p.14.
13. Christchurch City Council advises that the following should not be put into the green bins: plastics
of any sort (e.g. plant pots, any plastic or bio-plastic bags, cling film); coffee/takeaway cups and lids
(https://www.ccc.govt.nz/services/rubbish-and-recycling/sorting/organics-green-bin).
14. Beyond the Bin 2017, The availability of New Zealand compost facilities to process compostable coffee
cups and food packaging.
15. Sources: Kim Renshaw, pers. comm. 5 July 2018; Beyond the Bin 2017.
16. UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) 2015: Review of standards for biode-
gradable carrier bags, p. 19. “Generally, polymers of different chemical composition are incompatible.
For example, simple mixtures of polypropylene and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) are incompatible,
as are high-denisty polyethylene (HDPE) or LDPE when mixed with starch and cellulose. HDPE is also
incompatible with PLA plastics.”
17. DEFRA 2015, p. 19.
18. Soroudi and Jakubowicz, 2013. Recycling of bioplastics, their blends and biocomposites: A review.
European Polymer Journal 49.

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19. DEFRA 2015 highlighted the long-term impact of pro-oxidant additives in oxo-degradable plastics as a
key knowledge gap, as well as a liability issue (p.20).
20. Centre for Advanced Engineering, 2000. Landfill Guidelines: towards sustainable waste manage-
ment in New Zealand. p. 3. Municipal solid waste is any non-hazardous, solid waste originating from
a combination of domestic, commercial and industrial sources. (http://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/
files/4139_landfill.pdf).
21. Grant Northcott, pers. comm.
22. See https://www.mfe.govt.nz/waste/circular-economy
23. Commerce Commission, 19 November 2013. Rubbish bag company fined heavily for misleading
environmental claims. http://www.comcom.govt.nz/the-commission/media-centre/media-releases/de-
tail/2013/rubbish-bag-company-fined-heavily-for-misleading-environmental-claims
24. Catalysts reduce the energy required to break the bonds but are not consumed in the process.
25. Some have suggested that the burial of non-biodegradable plastics in a landfill is a good method of
disposal. They point out that since most plastics originate from fossil-fuel sources, returning them un-
derground in an inert and permanent form could be better than alternative fates.
26. If this methane gas is captured, it may be flared or burned to generate heat or electricity.

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