Following the Chancellor’s announcement of a tax on single-use plastics carrier bags, the House of Commons shop is to start giving its customers biodegradable plastics bags made of Biothene, a new material developed by CFN Packaging.
Speaking in the House on behalf of the Commons Commission, the body which overseas administration in the House, Liberal Democrat MP Nick Harvey said conventional plastics bags will be phased out in the House from April, 2008.
“Once all existing stocks have been exhausted, bags for souvenirs and bookshop sales will be replaced by Biothene, which is degradable polythene,” he told MPs.
Biothene already accounts for 20 per cent of the carrier bags produced by CFN Packaging and is being promoted as a radical solution to the problem of disposable carrier bags.
CFN director Jayson Clark comments: “We specialize in robust, colourful carrier bags which are likely to be re-used by consumers anyway, unlike normal non-degradable single-use bags that cause a lot of environmental harm. Now we can also manufacture carrier bags which will naturally and safely break down at the end of their useful life – and Biothene can be used for food packaging, too.”
Biothene is said to start to degrade upon exposure to sunlight and the process is accelerated by heat. Once the material has been broken down into small particles, these degrade into a non-toxic residue within 12-18 months.
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