Oxo-degradable debate | additives feature
The debate about degradables
There’s little room for sitting on the fence in the debate over oxo-degradable additives for plastics. For the suppliers of additives that make polymers degradable, the technology provides a valid and important weapon in the war against litter. For their opponents, oxo-degra- dation at best muddies the waters over biodegradability, and at worst will produce lasting damage to the entire biodegradable plastics world while also negatively affecting the viability of mechanical recycling. Compounding World quizzed various protagonists
and antagonists on the key issues surrounding oxo- degradability. We asked them to address various points, among them: Is there a valid place for oxo-degradable additives and compounds in the market? Where and how should they be used? Are there any compounder-specifi c issues that need to be addressed when using oxo-degradable additives? What issues arise in post-consumer recycling and in consumer and industrial composting, and how can they be addressed? Is there a need for standards and norms to be modifi ed to take better account of the properties of plastics containing oxo-degradable additives?
www.compoundingworld.com
Few polymer additives attract as much controversy and debate within the plastics industry as oxo-degradable
products. Peter Mapleston hears both sides of the story
Over the following pages we present the cases of those who replied, or who have recently issued position statements on oxo-degradation.
So what is oxo-degradation? Summarizing the Wikipedia entry on the subject, an oxo-degradable compound is one containing additives based on salts of various metals. The process of degradation is an oxidative chain scission that is catalyzed by the metal salts, leading to the production of shorter chain molecules. In certain oxygen-contain- ing environments, plastics containing oxo-degradation additives will degrade and fragment. The degradation
August 2013 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 27
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