What are Oxo-degradable/degradable plastics?
Oxo-degradable or simply degradable plastic materials are falsely marketed as biodegradable or compostable. Oxo-degradable plastic products are manufactured by combining polyolefins with metal containing additives, which when exposed to sunlight allow the material to breakdown into small fragments. Oxo-degradables cause many severe health and environmental concerns: • The additives used to trigger the fragmentation process contain heavy metals, proven to cause adverse effects on humans and the environment. • The tiny fragments left behind cause extreme pollution problems among compost facilities, oceanic pollution and cause bioaccumulation among birds, fish etc. • The degraded plastic fragments attract and house PCBs and DDTs – when consumed cause endocrine disruption in the food chain. Endocrine disruption is known to cause significant health problems, including; miscarriages, birth defects and many forms of cancers. True compostable plastics should be able to prove they meet the ASTM
