The story of how federal regulations are hurting a Calgary-maker of recyclable grocery bags made from bioplastic is an example of how transformations are complex.
It seems that at every turn, the effort to shift away from petroleum fuel and products creates opportunities but also harm.
These play out across the economy, and because I pay a lot of attention to farming, it seems that this dichotomy is particularly noticeable in agriculture.
In response to concerns about plastic pollution, both in terms of plastic as a product of fossil fuels and as a source of litter and microplastic contamination, the federal government is rolling out regulations banning single use plastic products such as grocery bags, cutlery, straws and takeout containers.
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Many countries are developing similar policies.
In doing so, one result is an incentive to develop alternative products with less negative impact on the environment.
Bioplastics made from plant matter are one response.
Companies big and small around the world are using starch and other components from plants to make plastic substitutes that are biodegradable or compostable.
It seems like bioplastics could be a new market for the crops that farmers grow.
Leaf Environmental Products of Calgary is one company pursuing bioplastics.
One of its products is a compostable shopping bag made with a starch-based polymer. It has worked with the Calgary Co-op to introduce the bag. The bag is certified compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute, and the City of Calgary’s composing facility says the bag is compatible with its green bin program.
Lots of people have become used to bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, but it is handy to have this option.
A compostable bag is better than having to buy yet another reusable bag that will eventually be stashed in an overflowing kitchen cupboard or thrown away.
But these bags are deemed “unconventional plastic” and run afoul of federal regulations.
When the total ban comes into play at the end of this year, the Co-op won’t be able to use them for groceries at the till, but can sell them in packages along with other garbage and kitchen bags.
Unsurprisingly, this has generated criticism from columnists and people on social media.
It is a case of uncompromising federal over-reach, or at least that is what the polite critics say.
Federal regulators say the problem is the bags are compostable only in the context of an industrial-scale operation employed by big cities such as Calgary. Lots of places don’t have that type of composting program.
Put these bags in your backyard compost pile and they don’t break down, at least not like in the city’s compost program. And if tossed like litter into the environment, would they be any better than traditional plastic bags?
In a Calgary Herald story, Gerry Gao, founder of Leaf Environmental Products, says that when subjected to the usual rigours of the outdoors, including humidity and ultraviolet light, the product breaks down.
But in the reader comments that accompany the story, a home composter says the bags look untouched even after two years in the compost.
This issue of what it really means to be biodegradable and compostable shows up often in discussions about bioplastics.
Many environmental groups see them as a false solution to the plastic pollution problem, which they argue would be better solved by eliminating as much single use plastics as possible and creating more robust recycling programs for the rest.
However, Globe and Mail columnist Kelly Cryderman argued in a piece July 29 the regulation will cut off product innovation.
“If the federal government can’t develop some kind of nuance here, how can they handle the big questions.… An immovable position on the compostable bags sold by a small grocery chain in Calgary is not confidence building.”
Should federal regulation accommodate nuance?
The adage “perfection is the enemy of good” might apply here.
Or would loose regulation that allows nuance lead to an endless process of individual product adjudication, resulting in frustration and allegations of favouritism?
This Co-op grocery bag issue is too specific and narrow to obsess about, however. There is a bigger issue.
The current plastics policy is only the first step in the government’s goal of having zero plastic waste by 2030.
That might have value as an aspirational goal, but I can’t imagine how it would be practically attained.
Plastic is not going away, but its negative attributes could be reduced with a multi-prong approach that includes waste reduction and recycling but also the encouragement, research, development and use of bioplastics because there are applications where they are clearly better. And with further developments, we will likely find even more uses.
If Canadian regulations block all work on bioplastics, we won’t have our own manufacturers and will wind up importing product made elsewhere. Once again we will miss out on having local champions in the industries that will increasingly dominate the 21st century economy.
