In Amsterdam, a supermarket aisle advertised as free of plastic packaging is generating debate over greenwashing and consumer behavior.
Katherine Martinko, of treehugger.com, blogs that Ekoplasta’s plastic-free aisle does house plastic—albeit composites made of plant cellulose, wood pulp, algae, grass, cornstarch and shrimp cells.
Martinko notes the objections already raised by Australian zero waste blogger Lindsay Miles, who calls biodegradability claims misleading. “Compost, degrade, dissolve, evaporate—call it what it is,” Miles writes. “Nothing disappears.” Miles also notes that there is no effort o reduce materials. “Growing huge amounts of food (sugar, corn, tapioca) with the sole purpose of synthesizing it into packets so that food items can be neatly displayed with predetermined portions in perfect rows in the supermarket? The land, energy and carbon footprint of that is huge.”
Martinko adds that biodegradable bags only need to contain 20% plant material to be labeled biodegradable, and the 80% petroleum-based portion remains as “residue.”
“I am sure Ekoplaza and its partner, A Plastic Planet, have good intentions, but their approach falls short of what is really needed,” Martinko continues. “It’s too focused on maintaining the status quo, rather than challenging customers to adopt a radically different and more effective shopping model.”