Symphony hails US Environmental Protection Agency report on pro-oxidants

Pro-oxidant masterbatch “could significantly reduce the persistence of plastic pollution without creating undesired by-products.”

LONDON, March 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc. have commented on this important statement from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

Symphony’s CEO Michael Laurier says: “It seems that everyone is now realizing, all around the world, that making the plastic with d2w technology is the way to prevent plastic in the environment from creating microplastics and accumulating there for decades. See https://www.symphonyenvironmental.com/why-biodegradable/ 

The EPA statement says:
“Accelerating Polymer Degradation using Pro-oxidants”
“Single use plastics that are commonly used for packaging and service ware, such as bottles, bags, straws, and wrappers result in land and marine pollution as they break down into microplastics. Blending plastics with pro-oxidants could be a promising solution, as they accelerate photooxidation to obtain degradable materials whose final ecological and physical footprint are much smaller.”

“In this study, two pro-oxidants, iron stearate (FeSt3) and cobalt stearate (CoSt2), were melt-blended with polypropylene (PP) at concentrations of 1 and 2 wt%. Plates of neat and pro-oxidant filled PP were kept in an accelerated weathering chamber that simulates damaging effects of long-term outdoor exposure. Samples were taken out from the test chamber and their properties were measured at selected time interval as they undergo photochemical degradation.”

“Physical, thermal, and chemical properties of pristine and pro-oxidant filled samples were measured, using TGA, differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transfer IR spectroscopy (FTIR). Within 300 h of aging in the chamber, PP with pro-oxidants were embrittled, cracked and broken into pieces. After 500 h of aging plastics plates showed significant reduction in melting and re-crystallization points – indicating polymer-chain breaking, rapid depolymerization.”

“Uv-Vis and GC-mass spectroscopic analysis of wash-water samples indicated water soluble degradation products are potently biodegradable and can be assimilated by microorganisms. The study offers a successful approach where benign filler could significantly reduce the persistence of plastic pollution without creating undesired by-products.”

About Symphony Environmental Technologies plc 
www.symphonyenvironmental.com

Symphony has a diverse and growing customer-base and has established itself as an international business with over 70 distributors around the world. Products made with Symphony’s plastic technologies are now available in nearly 100 countries and in many different product applications. Symphony itself is accredited to ISO9001 and ISO14001.

Symphony is a founder-member of The BPA (www.biodeg.org) and actively participates in the Committee work of the British Standards Institute (BSI), the American Standards Organisation (ASTM), the European Standards Organisation (CEN), and the International Standards Organisation (ISO).

Further information on the Group can be found at www.symphonyenvironmental.com and twitter @SymphonyEnv  
See also Symphony on Instagram. A Symphony App is available for downloading to smartphones.

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SOURCE Symphony Environmental