A recent case was won for the Biodegradable Industry as a whole.

ECM BioFilms, Inc.d/b/a Enviroplastics International (“ECM”) was served a moral victory by Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell when the judge admonished his own administration for failing to prove that the term “biodegradable” meant that a product must be completely broken down within a year.  However, the company appealed the ruling to further exonerate their own claims before the full Federal Trade Commission as the plastics industry waits for answers.

In January of this year the case between ECM Plastics and the FTC was adjudicated by Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) over the claim made by ECM that their products were biodegradable in a landfill within five years.  The Judge handed down a mixed ruling citing that ECM had not substantiated that claim, but also that the FTC “Green Guides” had failed to prove their position based off of their definition that biodegradable meant that a product must be fully and completely biodegradable within a year. While the judge barred ECM from making any such claims regarding the time frame unless they are first substantiated with overwhelming evidence, he also held that the FTC failed to prove that the term “biodegradable” means that a product must be fully and completely biodegradable into the elements within a year.  ECM sufficiently proved before the court that the term “biodegradable” to consumers does not infer any particular period of time, as the FTC's Counsel attempted to assert, simply that it means the product had the capacity over time to decay and be rehabilitated into the elements.

What does this mean for companies who are creating biodegradable plastics? They are able to claim that their product will biodegrade as long as the company refrains from using time constraints that are not fully substantiated or has overwhelming scientific evidence to present regarding the period with which they claim a product will be completely degraded.

ECM's February appeal is surprising considering that they clearly had much of the decisions language in their favor when the judge questioned the FTC's own guidance on the use of the term “biodegradable”.  For other companies in the industry, (including the leader in biodegradable technology, EcoPoly Solutions) they are willing to take what they can get and see this as a step in the right direction.

“This is a huge case within our industry,” says a spokesperson for EcoPoly Solutions. “Watching the FTC get a slap on the wrist from their own judges was beyond surprising but more than that it really represented the future of how we are allowed to communicate with consumers.  I think that the judge recognized the evidence in our favor [biodegradable plastics industry] and made an educated and reasonable decision.”