Plastic gets pally

An additive to conventional plastic can make it bio-degradable - and the technology is now available in India.

Garbage heaps strewn with plastic bags, cows choking on them, landfills made toxic with cheap plastics... now flick your screen around to eco-friendly plastics. Products that degrade naturally, plastic bags that do not pollute, plastic pipes that are absorbed by soil once they're done.

Science fiction?

Not at all, says Haresh Dugad, CEO, Priti Plastics and chairman of the environment committee of Organisation of Plastic Processors of India. He wants plastic to be given a fair chance.

"It's time we understand the benefit of oxo-degradable plastics," he says, "which offers the optimum solution to the problems of plastic waste management."

Oxo-biodegradation technology causes plastics to break down into water, carbondioxide and bio-mass. UK-based Symphony Environmental has tied up with Priti Plastics to distribute this bio-degradable plastic additive in India.

It's called d2w technology, and is making waves overseas. Elaborates Michael Laurier, managing director, Symphony Environmental, "Oxo-biodegradable plastic does not bypass manufacturers of normal plastic products, keeping the entire processing chain undisturbed."

All it takes is a small amount of a pro-degradant additive to the conventional manufacturing process, and this changes the behaviour of the plastic.

Customers are highly satisfied, says Laurier. "In South Africa we occupy the shelves of the majority of retailers; in Brazil, we dominate the aviation sector, food processing companies, banks, large cosmetics brands and one of the world's largest cruise companies; also are also prominent in Barbados, Malta, Mauritius and France."

Priti Plastics, the sole distributor of this technology in India, expects a similar penetration path for the technology. A government push would help too.

"Government bodies are testing our solutions for food-bags, bags for vermi-culture or manures and garbage bags too," says Dugad.

Would it prove expensive? By Dugad's calculations, the cost of the finished goods with d2w would go up by 3-10 per cent.

"But once we have our own manufacturing unit, the cost of raw materials (which are byproducts of oil refineries) would scale down by 15 per cent," which would soften the cost impact.

In the first year of operations, Priti Plastics hopes to import 100 tonnes of the oxo-degradable plastic solution. Incorporation of the technology at existing plastic plants is a simple procedure, so Priti Plastics can go for large volumes without much ado.