04/03/2019
Plastic is destroying the world, we need to make a change.
EDIT:
Hi everyone - I see we're getting a lot of questions around more-or-less the same concerns, so we'd like to address them here:
A combination of factors, including UV light and exposure to aerobic bacteria (as you'd find in most soil), are needed for the plastic to start breaking down.
It essentially works like this: UV light and/or abrasive particles (dirt) start to open up small gaps in the plastic's outer surface. This allows for some moisture and aerobic bacteria to pe*****te into the plastic in a manner which allows the bacteria to start breaking it down. Such steps don't usually occur when the plastic is used as it should be, for example to hold water in a fridge.
This breakdown occurs essentially via the same mechanisms as one would see in organic waste such as wood chips or garden clippings. The eventual breakdown products are then water and carbon dioxide. Since the carbon dioxide released is originally contained in the h**p tissues which provide the substrate for the plastic this process is almost carbon neutral.
Now some of you have mentioned landfills as a barrier to biodegredation - this is true, since most landfills do not have useful amounts of oxygen in their "soil". Biodegradable plastics such as those made from h**p do have considerable difficulty in getting broken down when folded into a landfill - even unchanged organic matter such as potato peels can have difficulty breaking down in such an anaerobic environment.
Due to this the problem lies not simply with biodegradable plastics not being biodegradable enough, it comes down to a hard limit on what can actually be down with organic waste when no oxygen is present to help fuel the transformation of plant-derived substances to mundane products such as water and carbon dioxide.
To ensure such plastics break down the way organic matter should break down they essentially need to be composted in order to allow actual living aerobic bacteria access to the waste materials As such landfills are a terrible place to send anything which is meant to rot away - landfills are where you send things you want to have around for the next few thousand years.
We do not commercially produce such plastics, as h**p is still a very difficult and complex issue in South Africa, where we are based. We are a h**p and cannabis legalisation supporter and we specialise on research into the potential applications of such plant-based products, as well as their medicinal applications.
Hopefully this clarifies some of your questions, feel free to point out any issues, we're not quite used to addressing such a large crowd :-P
