Last night, the TV industry honored their best at
the 62nd Primetime Emmy Award ceremony.
One aspect of this year's event peaked my interest: the event
organizers emphasized sustainable practices in every facet of
the production. So much so that they even collected and
returned to their dry cleaner all the poly bags used to protect the
garments of attendees and staff.
Sounds like the event organizers invested some time talking to
their dry cleaner.
Big mistake.
I'd bet that the event organizers bought the claim that those
poly bags were "recyclable" or "biodegradable." The truth, however,
is probably far different.
First of all, it's important to understand that there's a huge
difference between conventional poly, biodegradable poly and
degradable poly.
Conventional poly
Conventional poly is used by the vast majority of cleaners.
Conventional poly cannot be recycled by a recycling
facility.
Furthermore, conventional poly does not break down (i.e.,
biodegrade) in a landfill or breakdown (i.e., degrade) in the
environment. That's because conventional poly is composed of
petroleum-based materials called resins that are resistant to
biodegradation or degradation.
Bottom line: Conventional poly is not recyclable. Conventional poly
is not biodegradable. Conventional poly is not degradable. When
buried in a landfill, conventional poly may degrade in 100 to 500
years.
Biodegradable poly
Some cleaners claim that their poly is "biodegradable."
Like conventional poly, biodegradable poly cannot be recycled by
a recycling facility.
In order to transform conventional poly into biodegradable poly,
manufacturers add a special, patented additive to the resin during
manufacture - an additive that is a food source for bacteria, fungi
and algae.
The problem, however, is that biodegradable poly must be buried
in a biologically active environment (such as a landfill) in order
to degrade. Let's put this another way: biodegradable poly will
NEVER degrade UNLESS it's buried in a biologically active
environment (such as a landfill).
And even if the biodegradable poly is buried in a biologically
active environment, biodegradation may take far longer than the
advertised 5 years. That's because the speed of biodegradation
depends on a number of factors, including:
- The presence of the "right conditions" in a
landfill.
Biodegradable poly biodegrades by the enzymatic a
ction of microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi
and algae) in the landfill.
But there's an important "if": biodegradable poly will only
biodegrade if the poly is in direct contact with these
microorganisms and/or other materials that are themselves
biodegrading.
To give you a sense of the likelihood that your cleaner's
biodegradable poly will actually degrade in a modern sanitary
landfill within the advertised 5 years, consider this
experiment:
Take two heads of lettuce. Toss one in the back of your
refrigerator. Dump the other in the local landfill, compact it down
tightly with the other trash, and cover everything with a thick
layer of clean fill. In just six weeks, the refrigerated lettuce
will begin to rot away. But wait ten years and you'll still be able
to recognize the second head of lettuce in the landfill!
So what's the likelihood that your dry cleaner's biodegradable poly
will actually biodegrade in less than the advertised 5 years?
Probably slim to none.
- The type of landfill in which it's buried.
Unless the biodegradable poly ends up in a special
bioconversion facility (an unlikely prospect), it's destined to be
entombed in a modern sanitary landfill - an environment that's
intentionally designed to retard biodegradation!
You see, in order to minimize the formation of toxic gases and
leachate, modern sanitary landfills are operated so that little, if
any, of the trash actually degrades. No sunlight, and hardly any
moisture or oxygen penetrates down through the layers of garbage.
As a result, the chemical and biological processes that break down
materials are slowed to a crawl. The trash in a landfill retains
its original weight, volume and form essentially for the entire
active life of the facility - a period that can reach 100
years.
- The amount of the special additive in the biodegradable
poly.
In order to render this poly biodegradable, manufacturers
add a special, patented additive to the poly during manufacture.
The more additive in the poly, the faster the biodegradation, and
vice versa.
Here's the problem: it's possible to add a minuscule amount of this
special additive to the poly and still - technically - call the
poly biodegradable. Even if the biodegradation time frame is now
measured in decades.
Here's the summary on biodegradable poly:
With biodegradable poly, biodegradation depends on the poly
being buried in a biologically active environment (such as a
landfill), depends on direct contact with microorganisms and/or
other materials that are themselves biodegrading in the landfill,
produces methane gas, and can take up to 5 years to biodegrade.
Maybe.
Degradable poly
Degradable poly is used by a few cleaners.
Unlike conventional poly or biodegradable poly, degradable poly
can be recycled by a recycling facility.
With degradable poly, degradation depends on light, heat or air,
does not require burial in a biologically active
environment (such as a landfill), does not depend
on direct contact with microorganisms and/or other materials that
are themselves biodegrading in the landfill, produces no methane
gas, and breaks down in less than 2 years.
At RAVE FabriCARE, we only use degradable poly. Probably the
only drycleaner in the metro Phoenix area using degradable
poly.
Summary
Those of you who are environmentally conscious, know that you
can't take environmental claims at face value. That it's important
to do the research and fact check those claims.
Claims made by dry cleaners regarding their poly bags is another
example of claims that ought to be carefully examined.
The reality is that "recyclable poly" isn't recyclable and that
"biogradable poly" almost never biodegrades. Dry cleaners who make
such claims are not necessarily trying to pull the wool over your
eyes. They probably just don't know any better.
Back to those poly bags collected at the Emmy Awards and
returned to the dry cleaner for "recycling". I'd bet they're now
sitting in a dumpster somewhere in Los Angeles.
How can I help you?