They would also have understood that oxo-biodegradable bags are not intended to degrade in special conditions such as landfill or when buried deep in soil, but are intended to degrade if they become litter in the open environment on the surface of land or sea with an abundance of oxygen and usually exposed to sunlight. The experiments performed at Plymouth were not, therefore, a fair test of the product, because they had folded it tightly so as to exclude most of the oxygen, and placed it in a dark environment under a pontoon. Even then it would eventually have degraded, and biodegraded until there was nothing left, much more quickly than ordinary plastic. Michael StephenChairman, Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters• Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition

Source: The Guardian April 29, 2019 16:52 UTC