Bimbo introduces Oxo-biodegradable Snack Packaging

MEXICO CITY — Multinational baking giant Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV of Mexico City has unveiled what it claims are the world’s first oxo-biodegradable metalized polypropylene snack bags.

The packaging uses additives developed by Symphony Environmental Technologies plc of Borehamwood, England.

The bags’ metal coating is aluminum, which keeps the contents fresh. The packages degrade between three and five years after the end of a product’s predetermined useful life span, Symphony CEO Michael Laurier said May 12.

“Bimbo is a partnership deal,” Laurier said. “They have been working with us to change all their packaging to d2w.”

Bimbo, which produces 5,000 products in 18 countries and owns 150 brands, had net sales of $7.4 billion in 2008.

For now, Bimbo’s Organización Barcel snack food subsidiary is using Symphony’s d2w additive in packaging for two products, Takis and Ricolino, which are sold in Mexico.

Laurier said Barcel plans to change all of its packaging to oxo-biodegradable. According to Daniel Servitje Montull, Bimbo’s managing director, Barcel’s re-packaging program will take until the end of 2010 to complete.

Gabino Gómez Carbajal, Barcel’s managing director, said the company had made a “considerable investment” in developing the degrading technology in coordination with Mexico’s state-owned research organization CONACYT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología). He declined to be precise as to the size of the investment.

Symphony, which is publicly traded, has 30 full-time employees and clients in 50 countries. In Mexico, it already works with departmental store chain Liverpool, sports store chain Deportes Martí and clothing store chain Zara, among others.

Symphony forecasts sales of £8 million ($12.2 million) this year, up from £5 million ($7.6 million) in 2008.

In several presentations in Mexico City, Laurier said “plastic is a product that the world can’t stop using.

“We are one of the few companies that stand up and say you cannot and should not ban plastics,” he said. “We’re saying there’s nothing wrong with plastics.”

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Bioplastics Industry Joins Oxo-Degradable Debate

European Bioplastics, the Berlin-based trade association representing producers of bio-based or biodegradable plastics, hit out today at manufacturers of plastics containing degradable additives, accusing them of making misleading claims and failing to live up to international and acknowledged standards.

The association has spoken out less than two weeks after the Working Group responsible for plastics and packaging sectors within CEN (the European Committee for Standardisation) ruled out a request by promoters of additive technologies to change the current industry standard covering compostable plastics packaging – EN13432 – to include a longer decomposition period.

Chairman of the board of European Bioplastics Andy Sweetman said it is vital that claims of biodegradability or compostability are backed by internationally recognised standards.

“We just cannot allow that the public, who are generally very sensitive to ecological issues, to be further confused by claims on biodegradability and compostability resulting from conflicting approaches,” he said. “If certain products that claim to be biodegradable or compostable are proven not to fulfil acknowledged standards, this is liable to impact negatively on our own members’ products.”

Sweetman is concerned that packaging products carrying the association’s seedling mark of compostability – indicating compliance with the EN13432 standard – may be harmed by association with products marketed as “oxo-biodegradable.”

This situation is made more likely because there is no standard that specifically defines biodegradability – both the EN13432 and the ISO 17088 standards used in the bioplastics sector focus on composting. ISO 17088 requires that total biodegradation must be achieved within six months.

In a position paper on degradable plastic, European Bioplastics says that the use of the term “oxo-biodegradable” is misleading because the primary degradation process is one of fragmentation.

“The term ‘oxo-biodegradable‘ is an appealing marketing term which is, however, misleading because it cannot be verified due to the absence of a standard specification,” the association states.

“Fragmentation is not the result of a biodegradation process but rather the result of a chemical reaction. The resulting fragments will remain in the environment … plastics fragments would be spread around the surrounding area. As ultimate biodegradability has not been demonstrated for these fragments there is substantial risk of accumulation of persistent substances in the environment,” the association says.

European Bioplastics also points out its concerns over the additives contained in degradable plastics – which typically use a combination of cobalt, managanese, nickel or zinc containing pro-degradant catalysts in combination with rate-determining antioxidants – as well as the potential negative impact on both the developing organic waste and more developed mechanical recycling industries.

In the paper, the association draws hope for clarity of the use of the term “biodegradable” in the United States, at least, saying that the National Advertising Division of the Federal Trade Commission has recommended that advertisers stop using the term “100 percent oxo-biodegradable.”

FTC’s Green Guide advises advertisers that unqualified biodegradable claims are acceptable only if they have scientific evidence that their product will completely decompose within a reasonably short period of time under customary methods of disposal.

FTC announced it was initiating action against three companies – K Mart Corp., Tender Corp. and Dyna-E International – over “deceptive and unsubstantiated biodegradability claims.”

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