Symphony Environmental Tech. PLC Response to BBC Coverage (3331V)
20 July 2018 - 10:10PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSYM
RNS Number : 3331V
Symphony Environmental Tech. PLC
20 July 2018
20 July 2018
SYMPHONY ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES PLC
("Symphony" or the "Company")
Response to BBC Coverage
Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc (AIM:SYM), a global
specialist in technologies that "make plastics smarter", makes the
following statement on the coverage of its d2w plastic technology
on the BBC news yesterday (19 July).
The Company's Chief Executive, Michael Laurier said:
"Nearly all previous media coverage has been about the problem
of plastic in the open environment, rather than the solution.
Whilst the BBC's coverage did not, in our opinion, fairly present
the scientifically proven benefit of oxo-biodegradable technology,
we are pleased that the BBC has now focused on the solution, and
introduced our Company and our d2w technology to a much wider
audience.
All plastics will fragment when exposed in the open environment,
but the problem with ordinary plastics is that their fragments will
lie or float around for decades before becoming biodegradable, and
will persist and accumulate as a problem for future generations.
During that time they break down into microplastics and may attract
and carry toxins.
Symphony's d2w technology was invented to accelerate the
degradation process and reduce the dwell-time of plastic in the
environment, by adding a catalyst which promotes oxidation and
converts the plastic into biodegradable materials. It is essential
to understand that it does not just create fragments. d2w plastic
can be recycled if collected but degradation followed by
biodegradation is there to protect the environment if all else
fails.
It is legitimate for the BBC reporter to question whether d2w
technology actually works. To answer that question for ourselves
and our customers we have commissioned scientific tests over more
than 20 years so as to be quite sure that we would not be making
misleading claims.
Based on this evidence a d2w plastic product will become
biodegradable if exposed to oxygen on land or sea much more quickly
than ordinary plastic.
These tests included successful exposure in seawater at the
Bandol laboratory in France, and subsequent testing at Queen Mary
University, London. We were therefore surprised when Richard
Thompson of Plymouth University produced a bag which he claimed had
failed to degrade. Mr. Thompson is not a polymer scientist, and we
were given no opportunity before the broadcast to investigate his
claim.
As previously reported by Symphony it is correct that the EU
Chemicals Agency ("ECHA") is studying "oxo-degradable" plastic at
the request of the EU Commission. We welcome this, and have
submitted detailed evidence to ECHA that "oxo-degradable" plastic
is not the same as "oxo-biodegradable" plastic and that d2w plastic
will fully biodegrade within a reasonable time and much more
quickly than ordinary plastic into non-plastic biodegradable
materials that will themselves naturally biodegrade in a similar
way to a leaf.
The programme showed d2w plastic products being used in the
Ivory Coast, where the government is concerned that plastic litter
which gets into the environment should not lie or float around for
decades. They, like several other governments across the world, are
encouraging the use of d2w. Plastic is essential to the people of
the Ivory Coast for protecting their food and water from
contamination. A plastic ban could cause an epidemic and is most
unlikely, therefore an alternate solution such as d2w is
required.
We hope that the item on BBC news yesterday is the beginning of
an open and honest debate about innovative solutions such as d2w.
It is time to stop talking about the problem, and to focus on the
solutions, for which d2w is one of a suite of Symphony's
technologies that we encourage governments and corporates to
adopt."
-ENDS-
Contacts
Symphony Environmental Technologies
Plc
Michael Laurier, CEO Tel: +44 (0) 20 8207
5900
www.symphonyenvironmental.com
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe
David Foreman, Richard Salmond, Michael Tel: +44 (0) 20 7894
Boot 7000
Notes to Editor
Symphony has developed a range of additives, concentrates
and master-batches marketed as d2p which can be incorporated
in a wide variety of plastic and non-plastic products and
applications so as to give them protection against many different
types of bacteria, fungi, algae, mold and insects.
In addition Symphony has developed controlled-life plastic
technology which turns ordinary plastic at the end of its
service-life into biodegradable materials. It is then no
longer a plastic and can be bioassimilated in the open environment
in the same way as a leaf. The technology is branded d2w(R)
and appears as a droplet logo on many thousands of tonnes
of plastic packaging and other plastic products around the
world. In some countries oxo-biodegradable plastic is mandatory.
For a video of d2w(R) plastic degrading see http://degradable.net/play-videos/4.
In addition Symphony has developed the d2Detector(R), a portable
device which analyses plastics and detects counterfeit products.
Symphony's d2t tagging and tracer technology is also available
for further security. See www.d2t.net
Symphony has a diverse and growing customer-base and has
established itself as an international business with 74 distributors
around the world. Products made with Symphony's plastic technologies
are now available in 97countries and in many different product
applications. Symphony is certified to ISO9001 and ISO14001.
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Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
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of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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