The idea of a “biodegradable” plastic suggests a material that would degrade to little or nothing over a period of time, posing less of a hazard to wildlife and the environment. This is the sort of claim often made by plastic manufacturers, yet recent research has revealed supposedly biodegradable plastic bags still intact after three years spent either at sea or buried underground. So un-degraded were these bags that they were still able to hold more than two kilos of shopping.
Most Popular
UPRDA Gives Gas Exploration Free Reign, but All is Not as it Seems
The Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill was signed on 29 October 2024 by President Cyril Ramaphosa marking the transition of the Bill to an...
How Valid are MPAs to the South African Marine Environment?
Questions have been raised about the validity of most of the MPAs (and especially further MPAs) to the South African marine environment and about...
Spotlight on Environmental Crime as South Africa Tightens Compliance
The global challenge of wildlife crime and the many threats to the environment came under the spotlight recently at the Conference of Parties for...
How Indispensible Are Marine Protected Areas for Protecting the South African Marine Environment?
Written by Professor Emeritus Doug Butterworth, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town
Earlier this year, in an article in the Daily...
Comments are closed.