AS the lowly plastic bag takes a beating and shoppers take up reusable totes instead, it's easy to look at bioplastics and see environmental salvation -- or at least a happy middle-ground.
Bioplastic bags and take-out packaging are as disposable as their petroleum-based counterparts, but made from renewable resources - and sometimes waste by-products - like corn and potato starch, or leftover pulp from sugar cane processing.
At Mountain Equipment Co-op, Greg Rubell stuffs merchandise into a corn-based biodegradable plastic bag.
The sometimes pricey items are showing up in stores alongside standard plastic-packaged food, often promoted with green buzz-words like renewable, biodegradable or compostable: the latter meaning unlike standard plastics, they can break down in weeks or months, not centuries.
But for all the apparent benefits of serving up salad in bioplastic clamshells, or using sugarcane take-out containers, there's still some skepticism among environmentalists.
Some are concerned the lack of composting infrastructure in cities like Winnipeg will make the benefits of compostable plastics moot.
They're cause for concern for Friends of the Earth Canada, and have been rejected by the David Suzuki Foundation - in part due to the food shortage fears that have cast a shadow on biofuels.
And in the United Kingdom, the Guardian newspaper drew industry objections this spring after suggesting bioplastics are increasing emissions in landfills, confusing shoppers, and taking up land once used to grow food.
The criticism has met with strong opposition from proponents of plant-based plastics, who say there's a need to find renewable alternatives to oil.
"Right now, I think it's much better than destroying our boreal forest to access petroleum, to make a one-time use product from a non-renewable resource," said Kathleen Boylan, whose Winnipeg-based Waste Reduction Store sells compostable packaging to local businesses like the Dandelion Eatery and McNally Robinson restaurants.
Many of Boylan's products are made with polylactic acid (PLA), a common bioplastic made from corn starch by Cargill-owned NatureWorks LLC.
PLA also makes up the bags of pasta from Steinbach-based Nature's Farm, a packaging choice president Hermann Grauer said was made "for the pure and simple reason of sustainability."
At the downtown Mountain Equipment Co-op, customers have the choice of using corn-based plastic bags. Wal-Mart is gradually introducing PLA packaging in Canada as well.
There's even local activity on the production end: Carberry-based Solanyl Biopolymers is looking at developing bioplastics made from waste potato starch to make products like flower pots. Boylan said comparisons between the burgeoning bioplastics industry and biofuel aren't fair, pointing out her products are made from Nebraska field corn, which isn't grown for human consumption, and represents just half a per cent of all field corn in the state.
The sentiment is echoed by Michel Huneault, a research officer at the National Research Council, who says the bioplastics market is minuscule compared to the world's energy demands.
"ö"ö"ö
Bioplastic often look the same as petroleum-based plastics, but shoppers might be flummoxed when it comes to disposing of their biobased trash.
Compostable plastics need the right conditions to break down, and while industrial-scale operations do the trick, backyard bins don't always cut it.
NatureWorks, the company that makes PLA, does not recommend it for home composting, saying it's designed for industrial operations.
But those who try at home anyway have varying levels of success, depending on moisture and heat conditions in the backyard bin, said Resource Conservation Manitoba's compost project head, Sylvie H ©bert.
Samborski Garden Supplies, a company that offers a fee-based compost pick-up in Winnipeg, reports the packaging breaks down quickly in their large-scale operation.
But unlike cities like Toronto and Halifax, Winnipeg doesn't offer compost pick-up, and the lack of access concerns researchers like Huneault.
"I totally agree that if it's not in an environment where we have the possibility to compost, it's really not worth anything," he said.
Winnipeggers have two other obvious options for bioplastics: the landfill, where the materials won't compost properly, or the blue bin.
The city's recycling facility doesn't take bags, bioplastic or otherwise, and although it asks Winnipeggers to recycle anything with a triangular recycling label - PLA falls into the #7 plastic category - it's unclear what happens to bioplastics in the recycling stream.
"ö"ö"ö
Adding to consumer confusion is uncertainty over what defines a bioplastic. "Bio" doesn't necessarily mean a product is compostable or biodegradable, just that it's naturally sourced.
There are other unresolved concerns among sustainability-minded groups: how bioplastics release gases in landfills as compared to traditional plastics, for example, isn't apparent.
On the whole, bioplastics are "very much a mixed bag," said Charles Thrift, a research assistant at the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development: some release fewer greenhouse gases than their standard counterparts, while others require more energy and produce more gases than oil-based plastics.
Some organizations trying to make the greenest choice say they've been stymied by a lack of research comparing bioplastics with other options.
Manitoba Food Charter executive director Kreesta Doucette said the food security organization tried compostable cups at one event, but was worried about the energy used to make them.
"Do I put something from a tree into a composter, do I use a tree-free product that's been shipped from far distances, or do I use a starch or a corn product that's local...but may have had a ton of energy inputs?" she asked.
In the meantime, the group is opting for none of the above, choosing reusable dishes instead. "There's not enough research, and we ourselves don't know what the options are," she said.
lindsey.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca
Want to save the world, one smart step at a time?
Welcome to The Green Page, a consumer-friendly guide for ecologically minded Manitobans. Once a month, reporter Lindsey Wiebe will offer you tips, statistics and news you can use. Any suggestions, comments, feedback? E-mail Lindsey at greenpage@freepress.mb.ca
Tree Planting on Vermette Creek
A combination of tree-planting, free barbeque and Métis heritage celebration, arranged by Save Our Seine. Saturday, July 26, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call 470-9247.
MonarchFest
The Living Prairie Museum's first festival celebrating the monarch butterfly. Activities include guided hikes, crafts and 'nectar gardens.'
Admission by donation. Sunday, July 27, noon to 4 p.m.
Call 832-0167 for details.
PREVIOUS
