[GJM] Fw: [globalnetnews-summary] 'Sustainable' bio-plastic can damage the environment

[mary rose]

Hi Everyone, There is a solution to the below identified problem.

The plasmic field generator now being offered to investors by the
Global Alliance Foundation is the perfect solution for this and most
other waste remediation problems.  The plasmic field generator is
not an incinerator and can safely handle the remediation of almost
all waste in a very effective and efficient manner, perhaps even
that of nuclear, but I do not as yet have the results on this.

So, the problem here, as I see it, is that of connecting the necessary
information with those in the recycling business who are attempting to
solve the problem.  This is new technology and so there is not as yet
widespread information on it.

All of our waste dumps worldwide need to be "mined" and the contents
sorted as to what can be recycled and what cannot, in order to get these
valuable materials in circulation again. From the research I have done on
this, the plasmic field generator can safely handle almost any remediation
problem, as I have stated above.

Investors packages with complete information on this are available at:
http://www.global-alliance-foundation.com/investHome.asp.

So, let's see if we can help solve this problem and anyone having
contact with anyone in the waste remediation business, please forward
a package to them.

Let's also get this message fowarded to other lists so that we have a
mass marketing effort going on here in order to solve what is definitely
a very seriosu problem.  Perhaps the people at Peak TV news might
be able to assist with this.  Mary, can you get this to Janaia?

With love and in gratitude for all that we do together.

mary rose
.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "GlobalCirclenet" <webmaster at globalcircle.net>
To: <globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net>
Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2008 10:19 AM
Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] 'Sustainable' bio-plastic can damage the 
environment


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/26/waste.pollution


'Sustainable' bio-plastic can damage the environment

Corn-based material emits climate change gas in landfill and adds to food 
crisis

    * John Vidal, environment editor
    * The Guardian,
    * Saturday April 26 2008

Supermarkets' efforts to find new compostable plastics bring environmental 
problems. Photograph: Linda Nylind

The worldwide effort by supermarkets and industry to replace conventional 
oil-based plastic with eco-friendly "bioplastics" made from plants is 
causing environmental problems and consumer confusion, according to a 
Guardian study.

The substitutes can increase emissions of greenhouse gases on landfill 
sites, some need high temperatures to decompose and others cannot be 
recycled in Britain.

Many of the bioplastics are also contributing to the global food crisis by 
taking over large areas of land previously used to grow crops for human 
consumption.

The market for bioplastics, which are made from maize, sugarcane, wheat and 
other crops, is growing by 20-30% a year.

The industry, which uses words such as "sustainable", "biodegradeable", 
"compostable" and "recyclable" to describe its products, says bioplastics 
make carbon savings of 30-80% compared with conventional oil-based plastics 
and can extend the shelf-life of food.

Concern centres on corn-based packaging made with polylactic acid (Pla). 
Made from GM crops, it looks identical to conventional polyethylene 
terephthalate (Pet) plastic and is produced by US company NatureWorks. The 
company is jointly owned by Cargill, the world's second largest biofuel 
producer, and Teijin, one of the world's largest plastic manufacturers.

Pla is used by some of the biggest supermarkets and food companies, 
including Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Del Monte. It is used by Marks & Spencer 
to package organic foods, salads, snacks, desserts, and fruit and 
vegetables.

It is also used to bottle Belu mineral water, which is endorsed by 
environmentalists because the brand's owners invest all profits in water 
projects in poor countries. Wal-Mart has said it plans to use 114m Pla 
containers over the course of a year.

While Pla is said to offer more disposal options, the Guardian has found 
that it will barely break down on landfill sites, and can only be composted 
in the handful of anaerobic digesters which exist in Britain, but which do 
not take any packaging. In addition, if Pla is sent to UK recycling works in 
large quantities, it can contaminate the waste stream, reportedly making 
other recycled plastics unsaleable.

Last year Innocent drinks stopped using Pla because commercial composting 
was "not yet a mainstream option" in the UK.

Anson, one of Britain's largest suppliers of plastic food packaging, 
switched back to conventional plastic after testing Pla

in sandwich packs. Sainsbury's has decided not to use it, saying Pla is made 
with GM corn. "No local authority is collecting compostable packaging at the 
moment. Composters do not want it," a spokesman said.

Britain's supermarkets compete to claim the greatest commitment to the 
environment with plant-based products. The bioplastics industry expects 
rising oil prices to help it compete with conventional plastics, with Europe 
using about 50,000 tonnes of bioplastics a year.

Concern is mounting because the new generation of biodegradable plastics 
ends up on landfill sites, where they degrade without oxygen, releasing 
methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. This 
week the US national oceanic and atmospheric administration reported a sharp 
increase in global methane emissions last year.

"It is just not possible to capture all the methane from landfill sites," 
said Michael Warhurt, resources campaigner at Friends of the Earth. "A 
significant percentage leaks to the atmosphere."

"Just because it's biodegradable does not mean it's good. If it goes to 
landfill it breaks down to methane. Only a percentage is captured," said 
Peter Skelton of Wrap, the UK government-funded Waste and Resources Action 
Programme. "In theory bioplastics are good. But in practice there are lots 
of barriers."

Recycling companies said they would have to invest in expensive new 
equipment to extract bioplastic from waste for recycling. "If we could 
identify them the only option would be to landfill them," said one recycler 
who asked to remain anonymous. "They are not wanted by UK recycling 
companies or local authorities who refuse to handle them. Councils are 
saying they do not want plastics near food collection. If these 
biodegradable [products] get into the recycling stream they contaminate it.

"It will get worse because the government is encouraging more recycling. 
There will be much more bioplastic around."

Problems arise because some bioplastics are "home" compostable and 
recyclable. "It's so confusing that a Pla bottle looks exactly the same as a 
standard Pet bottle," Skelton said. "The consumer is not a polymer expert. 
Not nearly enough consideration has gone into what they are meant to do with 
them. Everything is just put in the recycling bin."

Yesterday NatureWorks accepted that its products would not fully break down 
on landfill sites. "The recycling industry in the UK has not caught up with 
other countries" said Snehal Desai, chief marketing officer for NatureWorks. 
"We need alternatives to oil. UK industry should not resist change. We 
should be designing for the future and not the past. In central Europe, 
Taiwan and elsewhere, NatureWorks polymer is widely accepted as a 
compostable material."

Other users said it was too soon to judge the new technology. "It's very 
early days," said Reed Paget, managing director of Belu. "The UK packaging 
industry does not want competition. It's shortsighted and is blocking 
eco-innovation." Belu collects its bottles and now sends them to mainland 
Europe.

"People think that biodegradable is good and non-biodegradable is bad. 
That's all they see," said Chris Goodall, environmental analyst and author 
of How to Live a Low-carbon Lifestyle. "I have been trying to compost bags 
that are billed as 'biodegradable' and 'home compostable' but I have 
completely failed. They rely on the compost heap really heating up but we 
still find the residues."

Bioplastics compete for land with biofuels and food crops. About 200,000 
tonnes of bioplastics were produced last year, requiring 250,000-350,000 
tonnes of crops. The industry is forecast to need several million acres of 
farmland within four years.

There is also concern over the growing use by supermarkets of 
"oxy-degradable" plastic bags, billed as sustainable. They are made of 
conventional oil-based plastic, with an additive that enables the plastic to 
break down. The companies promoting it claim it reduces litter and causes no 
methane or harmful residues. They are used by Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut and KFC in 
the US, and Tesco and the Co-op in the UK for "degradable" plastic carrier 
bags.

Some environmentalists say the terminology confuses the public. "The 
consumer is baffled," a Wrap briefing paper said. "It considers these 
products degradable but ... they will not degrade effectively in [the closed 
environment of] a landfill site."

A spokesman for Symphony Plastics disputed that. "Oxy-bioplastic can be 
re-used and recycled, but will degrade and disappear in a short timescale", 
he said.