Last month, through a press statement, European Bioplastics (EUBP) reacted to the publication of a study by Wang et al. claiming that compostable plastics and recycled plastics are more toxic than conventional plastic.
The study claimed to have analysed the toxicity of compostable plastic bags, conventional plastic bags, and other recycled plastic bags in zebrafish cells.
The authors stated that recycled and compostable plastics are highly toxic, but the method used in the study is a preliminary, not validated testing scheme, and the arguments made in the press release are misleading.
In the statement, EUBP highlighted that compostable plastics and recycled or virgin conventional plastics are not classified as dangerous substances under EU Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008. Additionally, we stressed that compostable plastics must pass ecotoxicity tests to be certified EN 13432 industrially compostable to ensure that there is no negative impact on soil.
Read the full statement here.