This is a Reach (i.e.
non-regulatory) announcement and the information contained is not
considered to be material or to have a significant impact on
management's expectations of the Company's performance.
11 March
2025
SYMPHONY ENVIRONMENTAL
TECHNOLOGIES PLC
("Symphony", the "Company" or the "Group")
Scientific study confirms
no trace of microplastics in soil from d2w
plastics
Symphony Environmental Technologies
Plc (AIM:SYM), the global specialists in technologies that make
plastic and rubber products smarter, safer, and more sustainable,
is pleased to announce the results of an important scientific study
by Intertek International ("Intertek") relating to its d2w
biodegradable technology. The study shows conclusively that d2w in
plastics does not create microplastics and instead causes a
complete transformation of the plastic into natural biodegradable
compounds which are then organically recycled back to
nature.
The
Intertek study
Intertek performed the study between
20 January and 7 March 2025 with the objective of establishing the
composition of any residues from degraded d2w products. The study
concludes that after samples of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene
(PP) had degraded in soil, ZERO microplastics were
found.
Intertek used ISO Standard 24187:2023, the
standard for investigating microplastics in various environmental
matrices. The soil used had also been tested in accordance with the
OECD 207 and 208 standards, and no toxicity to seedlings or
earthworms was found.
About Intertek
Intertek Group plc is a
multinational company that provides assurance, inspection, product
testing, and certification services. Headquartered in London,
Intertek is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is on the FTSE
100 Index. See www.intertek.com
Michael Laurier, CEO of Symphony
said:
"In addition to this groundbreaking
study, which confirms what Symphony and many
scientists and
organisations have always understood, a
Position Paper published by Symphony on
microplastics has been endorsed by some of the world's leading
polymer scientists in Canada, USA and Brazil, confirming that d2w technology
does not create microplastics.
Many people have asked why our sales
of d2w had been slow to develop, and the main reason is the
misconception that plastics made with d2w technology merely
fragment into microplastics, which is the position that the EU and
some corporations have taken. We now believe that with this new
scientific evidence, these misperceptions will change."
Enquiries
Microplastics - Information
Microplastics are seen today as the
main problem with plastics. They are tiny pieces of plastic, which
are being found on land, in the sea, and now even in the air we
breathe and the water we drink. Some of the microplastics are
coming from tyres and man-made fibres, and recycling and composting
can also be a source of microplastics, but most of the
microplastics found in the environment are caused by the
fragmentation of ordinary plastic.
Exposure to weathering in the
environment causes the degradation of ordinary plastic articles,
leading to embrittlement and fragmentation in as little as 4-8
weeks, particularly when exposed to sunlight, on land or when
floating on the ocean. Fragmentation will be accelerated by
colorants and other impurities in the plastic.
The problem is that although
ordinary plastics are degrading, they persist in the environment
for a long time because their molecular weight is too high for
biodegradation. They then get smaller and smaller until they
are small enough to get into our bodies. This persistent
particulate litter takes decades to degrade sufficiently to permit
biodegradation. Also, fragmented conventional polymers are more
likely to be occluded from sunlight by burial in topsoil or
vegetation and to be susceptible to biofouling over time, resulting
in a reduced rate of degradation.
This is why d2w biodegradable
plastic was invented. Professor Ignacy Jakubowicz, one of the
world's leading polymer scientists, has described the process as
follows: "The degradation process is not only a fragmentation, but
is an entire change of the material from a high molecular-weight
polymer to monomeric and oligomeric fragments, and from hydrocarbon
molecules to oxygen-containing molecules which can be
bioassimilated."
The prodegradant catalyst in the d2w
masterbatch not only accelerates oxidative degradation and
reduction of molecular weight but also - critically - removes the
dependence of this process on sunlight so that, unlike conventional
plastics or photo-degradable plastics, degradation will continue in
darkness - even if buried - until biodegradability is
achieved.
In September 2024, scientists at
Lambton Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Ontario, Canada,
reported on biodegradable plastic and concluded that oxo-degradable
plastics (i.e. ordinary plastics) create microplastics, but
oxo-biodegradable plastics do not. They said:
"Oxo-biodegradable plastics are both bioplastics and
biodegradable plastics. They consist of a conventional plastic
containing a masterbatch. The masterbatches cause the molecular
chains to be dismantled by oxidation so that the material is no
longer a plastic and becomes biodegradable. Light and heat will
accelerate the process, but it will continue even in dark, cold
conditions. Moisture is not necessary for oxidation and does not
prevent it."
"Ordinary plastic and oxo-biodegradable plastic lose their
strength and fall apart at about the same time when exposed to
sunlight, but the fragments of ordinary plastic have a molecular
weight which is much too high for
biodegradation."
"In summary, it is clear that if plastic products are made
with an oxo-biodegradable masterbatch and get into the open
environment intentionally or by accident, the molecular weight of
the plastic will reduce much more quickly and it will become a waxy
substance which is no longer a plastic. It will then have become a
source of nutrition for naturally occurring
micro-organisms."
The European Chemicals Agency
("ECHA") were asked to study this type of plastic in December 2017.
They made a Call for Evidence, and they advised after 10 months
that they were not convinced that it creates microplastics. We
agree with them and have seen no evidence that microplastics from
oxo-biodegradable plastic have ever been found in the
environment.
