EcoLogo: When Politics and Money Get in the Way of Helping the Environment

EcoLogo: When Politics and Money Get in the Way of Helping the Environment

In the fight to preserve the environment for future generations, one would think that honesty, integrity, and responsibility would come before greed, money, and politics. Unfortunately this isn’t always the case.

The US Federal Government pays lip service to protecting the environment on one day, then promotes offshore drilling and oil pipelines the next. Ultimately the highest paying lobbyists are the ones making the decisions, not the voters.

Similarly EcoLogo, a company that provides third-party certification of environmentally-preferable products, puts a premium on profits above environmental standards. First, the costs of certification are exorbitant, especially for smaller companies. Initial verification for each product can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000, plus travel costs of the auditor, and then another 0.5% of total product sales. Every subsequent product audited adds more costs. In other words, to get all of a company’s products certified as “environmentally-preferable” can cost tens of thousands of dollars initially, plus thousands of dollars per year, every year in the future.

And what does this certification ensure? Surprisingly little. One example is garbage bags.

Although they do certify biodegradability, there is no requirement that garbage bags or other such products be biodegradable. Furthermore to receive the biodegradability certification materials must only comply with the ASTM D6400 or EN 14995 instead of ensuring that they adhere to the stricter EN 13432 standards, which requires a minimum of 90% biodegradability. Additionally they only require they contain a minimum of 20% post-consumer (recycled) material in order to meet recycled content claims.

It’s a shame that they chose a business strategy that ends up earning more money rather than enforcing high standards. EcoPoly is committing to creating the highest quality products and adhering to the highest standards, regardless of the low standards put out by companies like EcoLogo.

Contact us today and find out how we can provide environmentally sound products of the highest standards for your organization.

EcoPoly Solutions new partnership with Lakehead University; a trial farm for Oxo-Biodegradable Mulch Film.

Recently EcoPoly Solutions Inc. partnered with Lakehead University to complete a trial farm for the testing of our new development; Oxo-Biodegradable Mulch Film.

With our new product, a farmer could plow the new-age mulch film into the soil, where the plastic will decompose into biomass, Co2 and water. EcoPoly Solutions has a variety of applications for each farmer’s specific need.  For example a farmer growing strawberries would need a different type of our mulch film than a farmer growing corn.

At EcoPoly Solutions, we are ecstatic about this product. Farmers work very hard for every dollar they make and now, we can help them save money while being more sustainable than ever before. Environmental sustainability, at the end of the day, is incredibly important. Everything we do in business and in our personal lives that can limit our carbon footprint is important.

Additional information about the trial farm is located in this article from Lakehead University. https://www.lakeheadu.ca/about/news-and-events/news/archive/2013/node/15772

If you are interested in learning more about our Oxo-Biodegradable Mulch Film, please contact me at Kristan@ecopolysolutions.com

EcoPoly Solutions Inc. is proud to announce their OxoElite Oxo-biodegradable plastic additives approved by UAE Government.

EcoPoly Solutions Inc. is proud to announce their OxoElite Oxo-biodegradable plastic additives approved by UAE Government. 

 PRESS RELEASE

April 3, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ECOPOLY’S OxoElite OXO-BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC ADDITIVES APPROVED BY UAE GOVERNMENT Dubai, UAE

(April 3, 2013) – EcoPoly Solutions Inc. is pleased to announce receipt of a certificate of conformity by the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA). The certificate is for compliance to Standard UAE S. 5009:2009 “Standard & Specification for Oxo-Biodegradation of Plastic Bags and Other Disposable Plastic Objects”. This approval allows EcoPoly Solutions to supply their OxoElite oxo-biodegradable additives in the United Arab Emirates and use the prescribed symbols by ESMA to mark the products as being oxo-biodegradable.

In October 2009, the UAE commenced a progressive ban on plastic bags and other plastic products that are not oxo-biodegradable. Products within the scope of this ban, whether locally produced or imported, require them to be produced or distributed by a supplier certified by ESMA. The certification process involves the audit of the supplier’s facility, manufacturing process and technology. Upon approval, the supplier is granted a certificate of conformity in accordance with Standard UAE S. 5009:2009.

Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC approached EcoPoly Solutions Inc., in mid-2012, to begin cooperation together as their sole agent in the UAE market. EcoPoly Solutions Director of Sales, Stephen Arsenault, said “We are honored to have received the prestigious Quality Mark and excited to begin working within the UAE with our distribution partner Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC. We have the highest amount of respect and admiration for the UAE government with their efforts and legislative steps taken. This legislation has provided solutions to the potential implications of plastic pollution on the environment”.

Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC, General Manager, Anthony Ryan said “We are excited to now have the opportunity to market the cutting edge oxo-biodegradable product, from EcoPoly Solutions Inc., in the GCC, following the intensive certification process from all sides. The UAE is the first country in the GCC to introduce strict rules related to oxo-biodegradable plastic products. We look forward to the next steps in the expansion of the regulations to encompass other plastic products”. Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC, CEO Maria M Koursaris “tributes this to the foresight of the country’s leaders and will certainly reap rewards for the environment of the country”.

About EcoPoly Solutions Inc.: 

EcoPoly Solutions Inc. is a multinational company with a global R&D facility located in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. EcoPoly provides proprietary additives for incorporation into plastic products during manufacturing that enable them to oxo-biodegradade. EcoPoly has a state of the art laboratory, equipped for testing to all standards established for the biodegradable plastics industry. This in-house technology allows for continuous development, exceptional quality control and immediate customer support. EcoPoly has their own manufacturing facility in a controlled environment with enhanced automation allowing for maximized quality in all products.

About Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC:

Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC was established by Mr. Michael C. Koursaris in 1989 and is based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC has grown to be one of the leading companies dealing in raw materials and representing machine manufacturers for the plastic and packaging industry. Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC sales territory is spread throughout the GCC, (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) Yemen and Iran, covering over two hundred well established clients in the various fields of plastic and packaging.

 Contact:


Stephen Arsenault,
Director of Sales EcoPoly Solutions Inc.
Tel: +1 905 967 9018
E-mail: steve@ecopolysolutions.com
www.ecopolysolutions.com


Anthony Ryan,
General Manager.
Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC
Mobile: +971 50 481 6947
E-mail: Anthony@eurogulf.net
www.eurogulf.net

Walter Cornelisse,
Managing Director.
Eurogulf Industrial Supplies LLC
Mobile: +971 50 632 8848
E-mail: Walter@eurogulf.net
www.eurogulf.net

Plastic, Paper or Cotton: Which Bag is Better for the Environment?

The answer to the question is simple if you believe in science. The bag that is best for the environment would have the least negative impact upon the environment. A scientific assessment was completed by Environment Agency called a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is a standard method for comparing the environmental impacts of providing, using and disposing of a product or providing a service throughout its life cycle (ISO 2006). In other words, LCA identifies the material and energy usage, emissions and waste flows of a product, process or service over its entire life cycle to determine its environmental performance. The conventional HDPE bag had the lowest environmental impacts of the lightweight bags in eight of the nine impact categories. The bag performed well because it was the lightest bag considered. The lifecycle impact of the bag was dictated by raw material extraction and bag production, with the use of Chinese grid electricity significantly affecting the acidification and eco-toxicity of the bag. That’s right! The conventional High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) “plastic" bag had the least impact on the environment of all the bags considered in the study. But that's only considering using each type of bag only. For many eco-friendly people, the whole point is to reuse other types of bags to avoid the perceived environmental hazards posed by the conventional plastic bag. Fortunately, the study revealed how many times the alternatives to the conventional plastic bag would have to be reused to overcome their own negative impacts to the environment:

Here, we find that if a consumer only uses a conventional HDPE plastic bag once (example… to carry their groceries home before throwing the bag away), a paper bag would have to be reused 3 times, a heavy-duty plastic bag made from Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) would have to be used 4 times, a plastic "bag-for-life" made of non-woven Polypropylene (PP) would have to be used 11 times, and a cotton (or canvas) bag would need to be re-used 131 times!!! The study reports that a canvas bag is expected to last for 52 trips. With that as a reference, a cotton/cloth canvas bag user does over twice the damage to the environment that a plastic bag using grocery shopper who throws away every plastic bag they get immediately after each shopping trip, as they will likely have to replace their more environmentally-destructive bag at least once long before they reach 131 uses! However, if a consumer reuses 100% of their conventional HDPE plastic bags (say as trash bags), the number of uses needed for the other bags to have a lesser environmental impact than the conventional HDPE plastic bag rises even more, which we see in the table above. For example, that re-usable canvas bag would need to be used at least 327 times to be less damaging to the environment! Wow! Uneducated or stubborn eco-friendly canvas bag users are over six times as destructive to the environment as the conventional consumers who simply re-use all of the plastic bags they get receive from the grocery store just one time. In Closing… Oxo-biodegradable bags have no significant difference (any differences were well under 1%) in environmental impact; due to similarity in functionality, weight, material content and production energy. However, in the case of litter, a comparison between a conventional HDPE bag and an oxo-biodegradable bag, the oxo-biodegradable bag is 75% better for the environment. If only those anti-plastic bag advocates cared more about the environment, perhaps they would do more research instead of making comments and claims based on emotion.... Reference Edwards, Chris and Fry, Jonna Meyhoff. Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags. Report SC030148.Environment Agency. A Life Cycle Assessment of Oxo-biodegradable, Compostable and Conventional Bags By Chris Edwards and Gary Parker. May 2012