Times of India 6.8.09

Ist registered firm producing biodegradable plastic

MANGALORE: Everest Plastic Industries has earned the credit of being the first officially registered firm producing biodegradable plastic in the state.
Minister for ports, inland waterways, environment, and ecology J Krishna Palemar handed over the license to the industries proprietor Cynthia Fernandes at a function held here on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Palemar said it was the first biodegradable plastic manufacturing firm in the state to receive the license. He said the state government was contemplating banning the use of thin plastic.
Stressing the need for creating awareness on the use of plastics at the school level, he said the government was providing Rs 2,900 per school for this purpose. Cynthia Fernandes said the biodegradable plastic degrades completely like other materials such as paper and helps keep the environment clean. She said a very small amount of a pro-degrading formulation is put into the manufacturing process. This breaks the molecular chains in the polymer, and at the end of its useful life the product self-destructs, she said. The product does not just fragment, but is consumed by bacteria and fungi after the additive has reduced the molecular weight to a level which permits micro-organisms access to the carbon and hydrogen. It is therefore "biodegradable".