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Fernando González Nicolás
The president of the Round Table of the Commonwealth Countries in the Dominican Republic, Fernando González Nicolás, clarified that banning plastics is not the most practical or economical measure to avoid contamination.
He said that, at present, certified technologies guarantee the conversion of plastics into water and biomass so that they do not contaminate the environment.
He said that the Oxo-biodegradation technology makes it possible to biodegrade plastics at the end of their useful life so they do not pollute. Great Britain leads this technology, which has been adopted in Commonwealth countries to combat pollution.
He emphasized that plastic as packaging has excellent versatility and a very competitive cost. The alternatives to replace plastic are much more expensive and have environmental implications.
He highlighted the influence of the plastics industry on the Dominican economy. This industry employs 41,485 employees in 472 industries, which export 546 million dollars annually.
The export destinations of plastics are the United States, Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. He highlighted it as essential to understand the difference between the Oxo-biodegradation of plastic that converts microplastics into water and biomass, not allowing them to contaminate.
Well, is it time for the RD to become the Caribbean’s leader in the use of oxo-biodegradable plastics? Maybe the 1st. There is a movement in the UK to ban oxo-biodegradable plastics because there are some that say it does not degrade completely.
Maybe paper is better. However, it is more costly than plastic.
What to believe?
Ordinary plastic does not degrade completely. It creates microplastcs which persist in the environment for decades. Oxobiodegradable plastic is much better
There is aready a problem with microplastics especially in the water system. Do we want more ? Plastic is chemically based. The solution is innovative 100% naturally based products and a change in consumer behavior.
While often confused with biodegradable plastics, oxo-degradables are a category unto themselves. They are neither a bioplastic nor a biodegradable plastic, but rather a conventional plastic mixed with an additive in order to imitate biodegredation. Oxo-degradable plastics quickly fragment into smaller and smaller pieces, called microplastics, but don’t break down at the molecular or polymer level like biodegradable and compostable plastics. The resulting microplastics are left in the environment indefinitely until they eventually fully break down.There is a EU ban in force since several years. Only corrupted countries (Africa) continue with it. DR is next?