Argentina bag industry seeks regulatory framework

26 March 2008 23:03  [Source: ICIS news]

BUENOS AIRES (ICIS news)--There is rising interest in biodegradable plastic bags in Argentina, even though the recycling industry lacks a regulatory framework to address growing global concern over polyethylene (PE) bags in landfills, an industry source said on Wednesday.

The main set-back for the development of Argentina's bag recycling industry is the lack of a technical entity or regulatory authority focused on this subject, said a source familiar with regulatory talks involving the Argentinean Plastics Industry Association (CAIP) and government authorities on the issue.

The source said CAIP has proposed creating a regulatory framework to separate the different kinds of garbage. This way the local industry would be able to recycle the bags and begin to address environmental concerns about bag and film recycling.

Although public attention about the issue has been rising around the world, even as close as neighboring Brazil, the movement is still very weak in Argentina, the source told ICIS news from the sidelines the XII International Plastics Exposition in Buenos Aires.

However there are some initiatives taking shape in the important Buenos Aires and Mendoza provinces to phase out conventional plastic bags in favour of biodegradable bags, the source said.

Plastic bags are an important segment of the packaging industry that represents 45% of the plastics sector, according to CAIP.

For more on polyethylene visit ICIS chemical intelligence

For some independent thinking on green plastics bookmark Doris DeGuzman's Green Chemicals blog

By: Cristina Kroll
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