The Green Report

To advertise polymers as degradable is deceptive unless the conditions are clearly defined. 

Degradable plastics must be compatible with existing waste management systems. 

Meaningful research should be carried out into the effects of degradable plastics in the environment. 

Testing procedures and protocols for degradability should be established. 

This was a constructive and far-sighted contribution to the pubUc debate about the value of degradable polynoiers to industry and society at large since it led to the establishment of scientifically based testing procedures and protocols for degradable materials in specific environments. 

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It will be evident from The Green Report (page 94) that the development of reproducible test methods for degradable polymers is an essential prerequisite to the manufacture and use of these materials. Standard test methods can be categorised under three headings which differ... 

The Green Report, Report of a task force set up by the Attorneys General of USA to investigate Green Marketing, November 1990. 

The Green Report Engineering Education for a Changing World. American Society for Engineering Education, 1998. 

The Green Report - Findings and Preliminary Recommendations for Responsible Environmental Advertising, The Task Force (group of 10 US State Attorney Generals), St. Paul, MN, USA, 1990. 

The problem of false claiming and misrepresentation has been recognized by a working party set up by the Attorneys General of the USA and the Green Report [4] addresses th following public concerns. 

Working Party of the National Association of Attorneys General of the USA (1990) The Green Report. 

The Green Report introduced the concept of a level playing field through life cycle assessment for the degradable plastics industries. The following are excerpts. 

The basis proposed for the level playing field is that environmental claims must be uniform and supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence . The use of the term environmentally friendly was particularly criticised as being a vague term in normal use that was not based on objective criteria. It was concluded that this term should not be used unless product was first subjected to life-cycle assessment. The definition of LCA in the Green Report given below is now the basis of LCA techniques as currently practiced. 

The term environmentally friendly has more recently been superseded by its modern equivalents renewable and sustainable . As already discussed, it is sometimes assumed that polymers from renewable resources are by definition sustainable . One definition of sustainable suggests that the development of new products for the benefit of society should not have an unacceptable effect on resource depletion and environmental pollution. However, acceptable is a relative term and invites comparison of one material with another by life-cycle assessment (LCA) [4]. Companies engaged in the development degradable polymers from renewable resources have initiated life-cycle assessment comparisons of their products with the commodity synthetic polymers notably polyethylene. As will be seen in the following Sections, these have not so far shown unambiguously that bio-based polymers are more environmentally sustainable than the present range of commodity polymers [36]. This results from the same reason that led to the Green Report namely lack of consistency and uniformity of the assumptions made. In some cases they actually contradict one another. 

The principle of a level playing field for business is outlined in the Green Report of the Attorneys General of the USA [47]. The same principle is also enshrined in the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive [48], whose primary objective is stated to be as follows. 

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