Degradable bin liners for domestic waste

The environment stands to gain considerably if a local company manages to convince consumers to use degradable garbage bags which, once disposed of, start decomposing after about 60 days.

Longbow Ltd intends to introduce the degradable bags in the coming weeks following a deal struck with a British company, which has come up with a ground-breaking solution to plastic waste disposal.

The garbage bag is engineered in such a way that when disposed into a landfill site it disappears without trace. In the meantime, it helps reduce the build-up of dangerous methane gases, and saves tonnes of landfill space.

Longbow Ltd marketing manager Fabian Farrugia explained that the secret of the degradable bin-liner was its composition - 97 per cent of it is polythene, with the remaining three per cent containing an additive which triggers off the decomposition process.

Should the degradable garbage bag be discarded in the open, it will turn into carbon dioxide, water and bio-mass in between two months and five to six years, as opposed to lying around for 100 years or more.

The process is speeded up once the bag is exposed to the sun or comes into contact with water. One need not worry about leaving the garbage bags outside in the scorching summer heat until collected by the refuse truck, since the decomposition process takes weeks to start.

The bags look and feel the same as conventional garbage bags, Mr Farrugia said. However, because of their composition, the bags have a shelf life of about 18 months.

Mr Farrugia admitted that the fact that the degradable bags will cost marginally more than normal polythene bags had put certain suppliers off.

Each bag is estimated to cost some two mils more than the normal polythene bags and Longbow Ltd was concerned this could potentially put off consumers.

However, Mr Farrugia urged consumers to look at the environment problem from a wider perspective, rather than just from a financial viewpoint.

"Keeping the environment in proper condition has become a problem which we unanimously acknowledge but which we, the consumer included, have failed to tackle," he said.

Waste is now a crucial global issue. In Europe alone, some 2.5 million tonnes of plastic are buried annually.

Scientists envisage that a staggering 50 million tonnes of polythene is produced every year.

The spectrum of different plastics is so vast that to attempt to apply the same 'bottle bank' process as glass would result in supermarket car parks overflowing with mini-skips, each for a different plastic.

Over 95 per cent of the plastics used are never recycled, mainly because the energy needed to recycle plastic is vast. Since plastic is thick and heavy, it requires a lot of fuel to transport it, putting a further burden on the environment.

Recently, in Beijing, the problem became so bad that plastic bags were banned, while in the UK, a number of local councils are urging residents to start using the degradable bags.

Mr Farrugia said that government could help with keeping the costs of degradable bin-liners down by, for example, waiving the import duty on them.

He also urged the government to emulate the Irish who have taken concrete steps to discourage the use of harmful plastics.

The Irish government is hailing as a success an environmental scheme to cut shoppers' use of conventional plastic bags after imposing a tax on them.

Millions of the bags have been removed from circulation in Ireland after the government introduced the tax five months ago in a policy that has generated a3.5 million.

Under the scheme, shoppers are charged around E0.15 for each bag they take from supermarkets and other shopping outlets.

"We don't want such a drastic tax, but all we are asking is for the government to draw up some incentives to encourage the use of degradable bags," Mr Farrugia said.

Longbow Ltd also intended to move on to importing carrier bags in the future, should the introduction of degradable garbage bags on the market prove to be a success.