Symphony Environmental Technologies PLC completes study into d2w plastic

() said it concluded a five-year study into its d2w oxo-biodegradable plastic technology sponsored by the French Agence National de Recherche.

The plastics technology specialist said the study had proved “beyond doubt” that d2w is biodegradable in the marine environment. It added that there was a direct correlation between lab results and real-world conditions, which it said was “hugely positive” as until now it had been alleged that lab results could not demonstrate performance in real-life marine conditions.

WATCH: Symphony Environmental Technologies ‘very encouraged by global results’

Symphony also said the study has provided proof of d2w’s transformation into more than 3,000 non-plastic biodegradable oligomers found in nature, as well as its non-toxicity to marine creatures.

The firm said the study has confirmed the findings of the scientists in their September 2020 interim report that “oxo-biodegradable plastics biodegrade in seawater and do so with a significantly higher efficiency than conventional plastics,” and that “the oxidation level obtained due to the d2w prodegradant catalyst was found to be of crucial importance in the degradation process”.

A report on the study has been submitted to the Agence Nationale de la Recherche while the results have been published in several scientific journals and presented at 13 international conferences.

“No government can now be in any doubt that oxo-biodegradable plastic (as distinct from oxo-degradable plastic) does properly biodegrade in the open environment, and is not toxic.  This is not therefore the type of material that the EU intended to prohibit and I trust that this and other scientific evidence will now dispel the confusion in the marketplace”, Symphony’s chief executive Michael Laurier said in a statement.