The Italian government has recently criticised Britain for this stance.
Italy planned to issue just biodegradable, cloth or paper bags in shops and use one Italian supplier that made compostable plastic. However, the approval was suspended earlier this month when Britain objected, claiming that since plastic bags are not outlawed by the EU, they cannot be banned by a member state.
Oxo-biodegradable plastic firm Symphony has said that the UK was "justified in objecting to the ban because it was an attempt to give an unfair advantage to an Italian bio-plastics company by exempting their own products from the ban. This is against EU trading regulations".
Symphony deputy chairman Michael Stephen told PN: "I would imagine that the bio-plastics lobby there mounted a brilliant campaign, but as sometimes happens in such cases, no consideration seemed to have been given to the use of oxo-bio plastic or the question of exempting it from the ban as well.
"Given the degree of plastic waste the Italians find so worrying, especially the build-up of plastic detritus on their sea-bed off their coast line, Symphony believe Italy has exempted the wrong type of degradable.
"As you probably know, bio, or compostable, plastic is designed to biodegrade in the special?conditions found in industrial composting and cannot be recycled?with normal plastic ?It is much?too expensive for everyday use, and you cannot even make compost from?it, because it quickly converts to CO2 gas which is then emitted to?atmosphere. In addition, it does not degrade to a pre-set time span like 'oxo' and if thrown away into the environment, is unlikely to degrade in a meaningful time-frame.
"If Italy is really concerned about plastic litter it would have a?better environmental case if it exempted oxo-biodegradable plastic from the ban, as the UAE, Pakistan, and other countries have already?done.
"This converts at the end of its useful life into a material which will safely biodegrade if it gets into the open environment on?land or water. It does not just cause the plastic to fragment, and it?can be recycled during its useful life. Incidentally, it costs very little and can?be made by Italian factories with their existing machinery."
