CONCERN about the large numbers of plastic bags he saw clogging the Eastern Bay’s streams and rivers prompted Whakatane businessman John Fell to do something about it and make them disappear – literally.
His research into biodegradable plastic led him to a British breakthrough in the form of an additive that makes such plastic bags simply disappear over time.
“That was four years ago and I have kept a low profile until now,” he said.
Mr Fell is now selling the environmentally friendly bags through several channels in New Zealand – including commercial cleaning supplies firm Jasco Distributing in Whakatane – and was now moving his new enterprise into the Australian market.
The Eco-Pal biodegradable plastic bags are able to completely disappear within a certain timeframe and, almost paradoxically, can also be recycled.
Mr Fell explained there were many complexities in the plastics industry, when recycling, biodegradability and other factors were added up.
“But with this bag, there is actually no downside,” he said.
The plastic bags that Mr Fell sells are manufactured in Thailand, Malaysia and China – all by factories that had ISO accreditations.
An additive was introduced to the plastic’s long carbon polymers, which would be cut into smaller pieces over time. Once the polymers – the bits of plastic – were small enough, they would be attacked by bacteria and fungi.
“All that’s left is water, carbon dioxide and biomass,” Mr Fell said.
Although the Eco-Pal bags were still made from oil, Mr Fell said that also was not a problem.
“Plastic bags are made from a petroleum by-product, naphtha, which would otherwise be flared off,” he said.
In fact, flaring off the naphtha would only contribute to global warming.
So, the new plastic bag disappears completely over time; cost no more; has the same quality as the bad bags; and, they can be recycled.
“It’s a no-brainer, right?”
Mr Fell said there was another way of creating biodegradable polymers, used to make plastic bags and bottles. It was based on agricultural products, but the problem with that method was it made recycling impossible.
“Those products will destroy the mechanical qualities of recycled plastics and they can’t be told apart from the normal plastic. That means no one buys them.”
With the Eco-Pal plastics, the additive that makes the plastic break down over time is destroyed during the heat treatments used to make recycled plastic pipes, for instance.
“So there’s no problem,” Mr Fell said.
He initially went to Japan to research biodegradable plastics, but did not like what he saw – “It wasn’t advanced enough” – before he discovered the British formula.
Until he was contacted by the Beacon, Mr Fell said he had deliberately kept his endeavours away from the spotlight. But now he was taking “a peak over the edge of the trench” he was prepared for a full-on plastics war as his competitors stepped up their game.
“This is the first publicity I have ever had,” he said.
