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The challenges posed by biodegradable packaging to Ontario‘‘s blue box and organics systems have been highlighted at a number of events recently.
The Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators (AMRC) reports that in October, the AMRC Materials Quality Workshop heard how products-particularly bottles-made from corn-based materials like polylactic acid (PLA) are causing serious concern among processors of plastic bottles.
PLA looks the same as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) but is considered a major contaminant. The material can also lead to fogging of high density polyethylene (HDPE) although is easier to separate. The resulting extra costs will ultimately lead to lower revenues and could even result in the loss of markets in some cases.
Early in December, the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) held a briefing session on its Product Stewardship Guide and Commitment for Degradable Plastics. Fred Edgecombe provided a background to the technical aspects of the various types of biodegradable plastics, noting there is a significant difference between biodegradable, compostable, oxodegradable and photodegradable. The following week the City of Toronto hosted a meeting of stakeholders on the biodegradable packaging issue. Biodegradable bags are a big concern for the plastic film recycling markets, and, like corn-based bottles, are difficult to distinguish from regular plastic bags.
Speakers from Natureworks, which makes PLA packaging, said there is infra-red technology that can sort PLA from other plastics and, acknowledging the current lack of markets, said the company is looking at buying back recovered PLA for C$200 per tonne (HDPE is currently paying more than C$500 per tonne and PET is about C$370 per tonne.) The AMRC Markets, Operations and Contracts Committee will be discussing the issue and follow-up action at its meeting in January.
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Egypt reviews Red Sea waste management system – Dailynewsegypt
Egypt’s Minister of Local Development and Environment, Manal Awad, and Red Sea Governor Walid El-Barqi held an extensive meeting to review the performance of the governorate’s waste management system and discuss measures to improve environmental services and operational efficiency. The meeting, held during Awad’s visit to the Red Sea Governorate to mark World Environment Day, focused on assessing current challenges facing waste collection, sorting, recycling and disposal operations, as well as identifying priority actions to strengthen the system’s performance. Awad stressed that the government places significant importance on developing an integrated waste management system in the Red Sea Governorate, given its strategic importance as one of Egypt’s leading tourism destinations. She emphasized the need to comply with environmental and technical standards governing sanitary landfills, waste treatment facilities and environmentally sound disposal practices. During the meeting, officials reviewed the current status of waste management operations in Hurghada, including collection, transportation, sorting, recycling and final disposal activities. Discussions also covered the infrastructure upgrades required to improve system efficiency and ensure the proper operation of sanitary landfill facilities. Yasser Abdullah, head of Egypt’s Waste Management Regulatory Authority, presented updates on temporary waste collection and sorting sites and outlined measures to strengthen operational management and oversight. He highlighted the importance of improving monitoring mechanisms for waste handling activities and maximizing the recovery of recyclable materials while reducing informal and unregulated practices.