The Managing Director of the trade association “Plastics Recyclers Europe,” (PRE) Antonino Furfari, is getting into a bit of a panic about PAS 9017, realising that it supports oxo-biodegradable plastic. He has fired off a letter to Mr. S. Steedman (Director of Standards) at the British Standards Institute, complaining about “Note 7 – Compatibility of innovative polyolefin packaging entering the market with current recycling streams is covered by the protocols of Plastic Recyclers Europe (PRE).”
This is actually correct, but Mr. Forfari says “This text infers that polyolefins which have been designed to degrade (“innovative”) can or could be “compatible” with current polymer streams covered by PRE protocols. This is simply not true and is misleading.” He continues “The position of PRE regarding main stream polymers (polyolefins and others), which have been intentionally modified to degrade, is very clear and unambiguous. Such re-engineered polymers are “incompatible” with the current main stream polymers.”
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