Return or Burn: The Shaky Future of Plastics - August 1994

Return or Burn: The Shaky Future of Plastics - August 1994

In 1994, as waste disposal emerged as a social issue, "biodegradable plastics" emerged as a savior to replace incineration and landfill. Microorganisms in nature would break it down - it sounded gentle and beautiful. However, the technology, economics, and ethics of the industry made it difficult to spread the use of biodegradable plastics.

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) set up a committee to study the practical application of biodegradable plastics. In its meeting room, various positions were intermingled. An engineer from a chemical manufacturer said, "As the incineration facilities are being prepared, we are facing a wall. With incineration facilities now in place, is biodegradation really necessary? said one engineer from a chemical manufacturer. From the viewpoint of the field, processing efficiency and cost took precedence over all other considerations.

Distributors, on the other hand, bring a different value to the table. Consumers are attracted to the term "return to nature. It's not about performance, but sensibility. He believes that the time will come when empathy for nature will sell better than efficiency in incineration.

The voice of the scholar also echoed. It's not just a matter of decomposition," he said. The safety of the products and their impact on soil and water quality should be scrutinized." The scientist's somber concern dropped a drop of cold water on the heated debate.

The committee included such names as ICL's "Biopole," which was the talk of the town at the time, and Japan's "Bionolle" and "Matarpy. But all were expensive. At a time when household garbage bags sold for 10 yen a piece, it was difficult to see how far the market would stand up to environmental considerations.

Nevertheless, the term "degradable plastic" lit a fire in people's hearts. Combustion furnaces in cities and microorganisms in the soil. Efficiency and ethics, economy and poetry. All were projected onto this material.

The scene of this small conference was the prelude to the road that would eventually lead to international environmental management standards such as ISO 14000 and the "de-plasticization" era. The question was: "Who is being environmentally friendly? From whose point of view is being environmentally friendly? The question was, "From whose point of view is environmentally friendly?

To burn or to return? The choice continues to this day.