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Degradable plastic products only perpetuate the throwaway society we've become.
A couple of related news items recently crossed my desk. The gist of them sent me scurrying for my plastic recycling bin. Both stories had a similar theme: degradable plastic. I thought this might be a good time to clean out that recycling bin and see what I could reuse on the topic of plastic that disappears.
Biodegradable or degradable plastic is not a particularly new idea. For the sake of this column let's skip the science. Accept the idea that plastic can degrade and it can biodegrade. The first turns the material into "plastic sand" and the second transforms it into natural elements. The terms are often misused.
The first news item reports that the French Assembly has passed legislation banning the sale and distribution of all plastic packaging material beginning in 2010. Well, not...