If German chemical giant BASF has its way, Hong Kong shoppers over time will convert to new environmentally friendly shopping bags - at a price about 8 times higher than the half-dollar shoppers currently are required to pay for plastic bags.

Daniel Loh, senior manager for BASF, believes the new biodegradable bags made of cassava and calcium cabonate compounded with BASF's Ecoflex, will catch on. He doesn't see the bags being shunned in the market place, despite their high cost.

"Considering the entire environmental impact, the picture will become totally different," he said.

Loh noted that Hong Kong, and most other cities, continue to incinerate daily waste, pumping more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

"If a single retail store, hypothetically, serves 5,000 households that consume 54,000 bags a year, the difference in environmental pollution is significant if people switch to the '2 in 1' Ecovio bag. The '2 in 1' bag will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 45,000 kilograms, which takes 180 large trees to capture, every year," Loh said.

The "2 in 1" bag is tear and puncture resistant, waterproof, printable and elastic. Most importantly, it is fully biodegradable and compostable.

Loh said the definition of bioplastics is confusing, to the point of being misleading. Some bags may be labeled biodegradable because they are made of renewable materials, which take months to break down in a waste treatment plant.

"The crux in defining the biodegradable bag is not just the source material, but the end result. Biodegradability should also be the first concern. Many of the bags in the market, even labeled environmentally-friendly, still need extra effort to separate them from organic waste, as their biodegradability is limited," he said, adding, "It takes less than 4 weeks for the green bag to become fully degraded. What's leftover meets all international composting tests, so it can be added to soil to help plants grow directly."

Loh said the company launched a pilot project in a small town in Thailand at the end of last year, to highlight the potential of composting as a feasible and effective waste management option. Loh says the results were encouraging. Villagers not only found their town became cleaner with less odor, but garden plants composted with the residues of the new bag and other organic waste grew much better.

"At the counter of many German supermarkets, you could find this bag priced at 39 cents, 4 times the price of the ordinary 10-cent ones. But many households still purchase it to load organic garbage to protect the environment," said Loh. Sales of the bags totalled 5 million euros in 2009. Loh says that helps retailers strengthen their image as environmentally responsible retailers.

Loh admitted the bags used in the scheme in Thailand were paid for by the government. The high cost is still beyond the means of most farmers in the area. He expressed hope that the government, retailers and composting facilities can work together to bring down the bag's retail price and make it more attractive to ordinary consumers.

(HK Edition 04/08/2010 page2)