The author of this article, Liu Yancheng, a former Ogilvy & Mather, has long known the importance of being green, environmentally friendly and loving the earth, but he has done little. It takes a lot of time to learn humor, know how to distinguish between value and price, know the difference between life and life, and begin to enjoy the life of subtraction. I am practicing to persuade more green enterprises to learn to integrate green marketing strategies, and I am also the green director of the Green Institute.
Environmental protection mythbusters-Is biodegradable plastics really more environmentally friendly? Published in Green College, reproduced with internal authorization.
In the last article "Brain Supplement on Biodegradable Plastics", we systematically updated the outdated knowledge of the brain. We found that biodegradable plastics are only one of the three members of the bioplastics family, and "biodegradable plastics" tend to replace disposable and disposable plastic products; Another family member "bio-based plastics" is more durable and can replace traditional general plastics; The youngest "biodegradable and bio-based plastic" is fried chicken popular in Europe.
Interestingly, after the article was put on the shelves, many people left messages saying that they had bought these bioplastic products, but the experience was poor. Things are either rotten or broken. I am really upset after reading it, because there are many misunderstandings.
So today, we are going to break three stereotypes about bioplastics, and how to avoid mines and pick out the really good things from many so-called environmentally friendly products.
Stereotype 1: biomass materials does not have its own recycling system. Finally, they will be burned in an incinerator. It is a lie to say that environmental protection is a lie!
Some people criticize that the recycling system in Taiwan Province Province does not include biodegradable plastic products. Therefore, when they are thrown away, they will not be recycled, but sent to the incinerator for incineration like other garbage. How can they be more environmentally friendly? !
Well, it should be easier to understand if the problem is divided into two parts.
First of all, bio-based plastics are the same as traditional plastics except from renewable resources (not all fossil resources). For example, bio-based PE and traditional PE, bio-based PET and traditional PET can be recycled together without problems. As shown in the following figure, when we extract and transform from renewable resources (such as plants) to form bioplastics, and then process them into plastic products, such as durable products made of bio-based plastics, it is very suitable for repeated and long-term use. Once they can't be used, they can be recycled as recycled plastics through the current physical recycling treatment.
Another example is biodegradable plastic products. Ideally, their best location is to enter the compost together with carbonaceous waste. In this system, they are not rubbish. On the contrary, the EU defines this treatment as a kind of "recycling", because through organic transformation, they will become reusable fertilizers with economic value.
Even if the above-mentioned bio-based and biodegradable plastic products are burned instead of recycled, they will not become waste, but these bio-based plastics will be converted into energy through mass-energy conversion. Both nutrients and energy produced in the recycling process will eventually return to renewable resources through planting. At the same time, the carbon dioxide released in the recycling process will be re-carbon fixed and replanted through photosynthesis.