Sustainable Plastics - July/August 2020 - 15

Inside at....Senbis
At the end-of-life, artificial
turf usually gets landfilled
or incinerated

the composting facility. Growers using polypropylene garden twine must pay substantial
amounts to process their waste:
even though only relatively
small amounts of twine are
mixed in, the impact is big," he
explained.
Second, a case can be made
for using a biodegradable material in examples where the end
price of the raw material has

a negligent effect on the end
price. Trimmer lines - the plastic
string in the trimmer head that
does the cutting - wear down
with use, shedding plastic, usually non-degradable polyamide,
into the environment. Used by
professional gardeners who
charge a fee for their services,
soil degradable trimmer lines
ultimately add very little to the
cost of the service, as by far

the greatest part of the fee represents labour costs.
However, the benefit to the
environment is considerable.
"It's a great unique selling
point," said Nijhoving, "And
one that in this case weighs far
more heavily than the cost of
the resin."
Third, government regulations can provide a business
case. "For example, we have

Demonstration of a trimmer with a
biodegradable trimmer line

developed a product for fishery
applications. However, fishermen save no costs if they opt
for our marine degradable option and there is no immediate
USP: no one pays more for fish
caught with marine degradable
fishing gear. The only option in
that case is government regulation or government support,"
said Nijhoving.
It is something he strongly
believes in. "It's why we decided
to invest in the company. We do
think there is going to be a big
growth in sustainability - also in
materials and plastics."
Nijhoving noted that legislation on plastics is dragging,
compared to other industries.
In energy and transport fuels,
legislation and government
support have created enormous markets for sustainable
solutions. Yet things are finally starting to happen, he said,
pointing to ECHA's proposal
to ban intentionally added microplastics in products placed
on the EU/EEA market. The
restriction would exclude biodegradable materials that meet
specific criteria.
"And that might be a big opportunity for companies like
ours," Nijhoving noted. The
ECHA legislation specifically
July/August 2020

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Sustainable Plastics - July/August 2020

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