PLNT Plantic Tech.

 

TIDMPLNT 
 
 
Plantic Technologies Limited 
02 March 2009 
 
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2 MARCH 2009 
 
 
PLANTIC TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED 
 
 
 
 
REPORT ON ENERGY SAVINGS THROUGH USE OF BIODEGRADEABLE PLASTIC: 
 
 
SWITCHING EASTER EGG PACKAGING 
COULD POWER BIRMINGHAM, LEEDS & MANCHESTER OVER EASTER 
 
 
 
 
Plantic Technologies produces biodegradeable plastic made from starch which 
occurs naturally in corn. No additives are used in the process. The plastic is 
stable, robust and yet decomposes with no residue. 
 
 
Plantic's material is used in an increasingly wide variety of packaging 
applications and can most commonly be found in trays used to package chocolates, 
including Easter eggs. Users of Plantic's material include Marks & Spencer, 
Cadburys and Sainsburys. 
 
 
Plantic Technologies announces the results of a study it has commissioned into 
the energy savings that can be achieved through manufacturing and using 
biodegradeable plastic instead of plastics made from polymers derived from 
hydrocarbons. The study has also considered the energy implications of recycling 
plastic packaging materials and concludes that much more energy is wasted 
through recycling than is generally realised. 
 
 
Key Findings 
 
 
  *  If all the chocolate eggs purchased in the UK each Easter were packed in Plantic 
  material instead of hydrocarbon plastic, that would save enough energy to power 
  over 1 million households from Good Friday to Easter Sunday - that's more than 
  the total number of households in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester combined. 
 
 
 
  *  41,000 boxes of chocolates with biodegradeable plastic trays saves the same 
  amount of energy as is consumed EACH YEAR by the average UK household 
 
 
 
  *  30,000 boxes of chocolates with biodegradeable plastic trays saves the same 
  amount of energy as is consumed EACH YEAR by a standard compact car. 
 
 
 
Energy Savings 
 
 
1 sheet of Plantic material (enough to make 1,000 chocolate trays) uses 544 MJ 
of energy. 1,000 conventional polyethylene trays use 1362MJ. 1,000 Plantic trays 
therefore save 818 MJ of energy. 1 tonne of Plantic material produces 98 sheets 
and therefore saves 80.2 GJ of energy.  The average UK household consumes 33.5 
GJ of energy each year. The average compact car consumes 24.5 GJ of energy each 
year. 
 
 
Every Easter, UK consumers get through approximately 3,500 tonnes of plastic 
packaging when they buy Easter eggs. If all of these eggs were packaged in 
Plantic material, that would save over 275,000 GJ of energy. This is the 
equivalent amount of energy that is consumed by more than 1 million UK 
households between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, more than the number of 
households in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester combined. 
 
 
If 41,000 people buy a box of chocolates using a tray made of Plantic material 
instead of a standard box of chocolates, that will save the same amount of 
energy as is consumed in a year by the average UK household. 
 
 
If 30,000 people buy a box of chocolates using a tray made of Plantic material 
instead of a standard box of chocolates, that will save the same amount of 
energy consumed in a year by a standard compact car. 
 
 
The myth of recycling 
 
 
The UK is making some progress in improving the amount of plastic packaging that 
is recycled. In 2007, only 7% of waste plastic in the UK was recycled. That 
proportion is understood to be increasing, but it is still far too low to be 
considered environmentally beneficial. The fact is that local authorities and 
waste management companies in the UK are either sending waste packaging that is 
claimed to be recycled to landfill sites, or are exporting the packaging abroad, 
mainly to China. 
 
 
According to WRAP, the UK's exports of recovered plastics grew almost ninefold 
between 2000 and 2006, of which between 80% and 90% was destined for China. Over 
the same period, Chinese imports of recovered plastic tripled from around 2 
million tonnes to 6 million tonnes. In 2007 alone, it is estimated that 500,000 
tonnes of recovered plastic was exported to China. 
 
 
Cargo ships run on bunker fuel, the dirtiest, cheapest product that remains 
after petrol and other high-grade fuels are refined from crude oil. Bunker fuel 
contains up to 5,000 times more sulphur than diesel. As a result, according to 
Bluewater Network, a division of Friends of the Earth, a single container ship 
emits more pollution than 2,000 diesel trucks. 
 
Quite apart from the pollutive effect of shipping, there is also energy wastage 
to be considered. Plantic has calculated that approximately 5 journeys by cargo 
ship to the UK from China and back are required to ship 500,000 tonnes of 
plastic, and that each journey consumes 1.9 million GJ of energy. The process of 
shipping this plastic therefore uses the equivalent energy consumed each year by 
over 260,000 UK households.  If all of this plastic were biodegradeable and 
could be composted instead, the energy savings to the whole planet would be 
enormous - before even taking into account the reduced air pollution. 
 
 
Plantic Technologies offers governments, local authorities, packaging companies 
and retailers to a real alternative to using hydro-carbon based plastic and 
actively support the use of biodegradeable plastic. Not only does the 
manufacturing of hydro-carbon based plastics consume more energy, but its 
disposal is also far less efficient and more damaging to the environment. 
 
 
Brendan Morris, Chief Executive of Plantic Technologies, summarises: 
 
 
"We have already proved that Plantic's material can compete functionally with 
traditional hydrocarbon-based plastic, with our investment in Europe it is cost 
competitive. We also knew that its environmental credentials are far superior, 
which our most recent study proves beyond doubt. 
 
 
"We encourage recycling where it makes sense but often Recycling does not solve 
any problems, it merely hides them - often in the ground, for a future 
generation to deal with." 
 
 
FURTHER INFORMATION: 
 
 
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ 
| Plantic Technologies:               |                                     | 
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ 
| Brendan Morris, Chief Executive     | +61(0)3 9353 7983                   | 
| Officer                             |                                     | 
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ 
|                                     |                                     | 
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ 
| Pelham PR:                          |                                     | 
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ 
| Archie Berens                       | +44 (0)207 743 6679 / +44 (0)7802   | 
|                                     | 442486                              | 
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ 
 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
 NRAEAKAXADENEFE 
 

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