Embrace Sustainable Plastic Technologies And Don't Be Obsessed With Recycling, Says Symphony Environmental

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Mar 04, 2024, 12:27 ET

LONDON, March 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent report from the Centre for Climate Integrity claims it has uncovered shocking insights into how the plastics industry deceived the public for decades and contributed to the plastic waste crisis. The report titled The Fraud of Plastic Recycling details internal documentation dating back to the 1970s which warns industry executives that recycling plastic was not a solution and that there was serious doubt that recycling of plastic could ever be made viable on an economic basis.

Despite the industry's decades-long recycling campaigns, plastic pollution is as pervasive and as harmful as ever and remains one of the most serious environmental crises facing the world today. The report claims that, despite long-standing knowledge that recycling plastic is neither technically nor economically viable, petrochemical companies engaged in marketing and public education campaigns designed to mislead the public about recycling as a solution to plastic waste.

The report goes on to describe how the plastics industry has "sold" plastic recycling to the public to persuade them that there is really no problem with plastic,

Michael Stephen, Executive Director at Symphony Environmental Technologies, says:

"For years the resin-suppliers and plastic manufacturers have been warned that their business is under threat because plastic creates microplastics and is very persistent in the environment. The way to respond to this threat is to support and use biodegradable masterbatch technology, which can be put into their products so that they will quickly biodegrade and no longer be persistent in the open environment."

"Manufacturers have not listened, continuing to place their faith in recycling. But recycling does not address the principal concern about plastics around the world – how to deal with the plastic which has escaped into the oceans and elsewhere in the open environment, from which it cannot realistically be collected for recycling or anything else. Thousands of tons of it will therefore accumulate for many decades.

Stephen additionally highlights that "Some recyclers have been persuaded against oxo-biodegradable technology to their detriment, as due to anti-plastic campaigning there is reduced demand for their recyclate and reduced supplies of plastic for their feedstock. Essentially, they are scoring an own goal, and production lines in the plastics industry, and even whole factories, are closing.

"Whilst recycling plastic can be useful, more awareness is needed around its limitations. See https://www.biodeg.org/subjects-of-interest/recycling-2/. It is time to stop using recycling as an argument against environmentally-conscious alternatives such as d2w plastic, which has been proved to be recyclable without needing separation from a post-consumer waste stream."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About Symphony Environmental Technologies plc

www.symphonyenvironmental.com

In addition to its biodegradable technology, Symphony has invented a range of technologies to protect against bacteria, viruses (including COVID), insects, rodents, odors, and fire. See www.d2p.net

Symphony has a diverse and growing customer-base and has established itself as an international business with over 70 distributors around the world. Products made with Symphony's plastic technologies are now available in nearly 100 countries and in many different product applications. Symphony itself is accredited to ISO9001 and ISO14001.

Symphony is a founder-member of The BPA (www.biodeg.org) and actively participates in the Committee work of the British Standards Institute (BSI), the American Standards Organization (ASTM), the European Standards Organization (CEN), and the International Standards Organization (ISO).

Further information on the Group can be found at www.symphonyenvironmental.com and twitter @SymphonyEnv. See also Symphony on Instagram. A Symphony App is available for downloading to smartphones.

SOURCE Symphony Environmental