Experts say YES! to wood-based cellulosic fibers

According to the Plastic Atlas from Global2000, every year around 130 million tons of plastic end up in our waters and soil worldwide. As a countermeasure, last year the European Commission passed the Single-Use Plastic Directive („Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment“) – with the intention of restricting the use of plastic at least with single-use products. This is accomplished, on the one hand, by disallowing the sale of certain single-use products such as straws of plastic as of 2021. On the other hand, the directive focuses on creating awareness and greater transparency. For wet wipes and feminine hygiene products of plastic, from that time on a uniform labelling obligation will enter into force for single-use plastics.

The EU Commission is currently working on a clear definition of the term „plastic“, since until now there was no clear regulation of what materials are actually defined as plastic. Shortly before the decision is made concerning whether wood-based cellulosic fibers are to be put in the category of plastic, ItsInOurHands conducted an interview with Dipl.-Phys.Ing. Michael Carus, physicist, co-founder and managing director of nova-Institute. Carus has been active in the bio-based economy for 20 years.

Mr. Carus, first of all thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk to you today. Maybe I can start with a personal question: you did a course of study in mathematics and physics, then you worked some years as a system manager in the IT branch, then you began to specialize in the bio-based economy. Did one thing lead to the other or did you just simply ditch your plans several times over?

Dipl.-Phys.Ing. Carus: There is continuity in this. To be precise I studied nuclear physics, but then during my studies I developed an interest in alternative energies, such as solar and wind energy, and if you consider the fact that with regard to biofuels only around 0.3 percent of solar energy ends up in fuel, then this is painful for the physicist. After that, you start to search for even better topics. In the meantime, we don’t just concentrate on the bio economy but also have an interest in the field of renewable carbons, the direct use of CO2 and recycling. We just have to move away from fossil carbon.

This means you are building the bridge between ecology and the economy. You have one eye on efficiency and the other on the environment.

Dipl.-Phys.Ing.​​​​​​​ Carus: Those are the three pillars of sustainability: the economy, ecology and social issues. We are working with companies as well as for politicians and NGOs. We act as a connective link between these worlds.

Last year, the EU Commission got the Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and the Council of 5 June 2019 off the ground on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (single-use plastic directive) with the intention to reduce the use of single-use plastic. From your point of view, how successful has this been?

Dipl.-Phys.Ing.​​​​​​​ Carus: This all happened very fast and I believe that it is wrong to condemn plastic in general.

This is surely not the case with disposable products but more in the course of the circular economy. It is good that we no longer have plastic bags in retail and people are now using more reusable bags.

Dipl.-Phys.Ing.​​​​​​​ Carus: There is of course also the question how much worse the energy footprint is with a cotton bag. According to the study, I would have to use it 200 times to have a better footprint. Here again we have to maintain a level head and do the math correctly. If I take a closer look at this heavy glass dish used in the cosmetics industry, made using an enormous amount of energy, and then thrown away, the positive image that glass enjoys is an illusion. Here I would like to quote the former German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, who differentiated between two types of ethics: the ethics of conviction, i.e. what we as humans instinctively feel is right, and the ethics of responsibility, to which politicians have to ascribe since they always have to consider the consequences. This means that I had to work on closing the circle allover, as far as possible, without prohibiting certain materials.

We can add to this that as a consumer I might not even know what the products are made of. When it comes to wet wipes, we have launched an initiative entitled „ItsInOurHands“ to make people aware that, as far as we know today, more than 80 percent of the baby wet wipes in the German market contain fossil-based plastic and in most cases, they contain a very high share of it.

Dipl.-Phys.Ing.​​​​​​​ Carus: Wet wipes are most definitely products the consumer believes only contain pulp or cellulose and which do not, therefore, represent a problem. At the current time , however, the wet wipes mainly comprise fossil-based raw materials. If one can attain the same product properties with alternative, wood-based cellulosic fibers like lyocell or viscose, one should of course do this. Even if it is still not clear whether these will be considered an alternative to plastic. The biological degradability was not taken into consideration when defining plastic, because the prevailing idea was that the current labelings, labels and certificates are not yet scientifically solid. The question is whether that is true because TÜV offers good certifications as do some others. It is possible that it would already be an advantage to use these and improve them, but no one even thought of that.

And now it could actually happen that wood-based cellulosic fibers are categorized as plastic by the EU Commission?

Dipl.-Phys.Ing.​​​​​​​ Carus: There is that danger unfortunately. Good, the fibers, from the natural polymer cellulose, are subject to a multi-phased manufacturing process. But wood-based cellulosic fibers are of 100% biological origin and are 100% biodegradable. There are so many inconsistencies and some insufficient simplifications might have been made.

Now if the EU forbids and restricts the use of single-use plastic in its directive, does this not also make them responsible for pointing out alternatives or promoting these?

Dipl.-Phys.Ing.​​​​​​​ Carus: At the outset, I would like to put this dimension into perspective: only eight products are forbidden, and as a whole perhaps two percent of all of the plastics used are affected by the measures. But I agree with you, it is not very responsible because not enough aspects were taken into consideration. 90 percent of the climate-relevant emissions result from new fossil carbon being extracted from the ground and put into circulation. The single- plastic directive failed to address the idea of attaining a reduction in this respect. There is, however, a need for optimal solutions for each individual field rather than global prohibitions.

Now I would like to focus a little on our Initiative and the subject of plastic in wet wipes. We found this equally surprising and alarming that according to a TÜV test, 28 of 33 customary baby wet wipes in the German speaking market contain 85 percent polypropylene, polyester and other basic fossil materials, even with a share of, in part, more than 80 percent. The consumers are not even aware of this since the information about the fiber material in use is normally not on the packaging. So it was definitely a good move to give precedence to biodegradable fibers such as wood-based cellulose.

Dipl.-Phys.Ing.​​​​​​​ Carus: Wood-based cellulose is naturally a brilliant material and it is completely fantastic what one can do with it. Rapidly degradable polymers can be a good addition. Unfortunately, the world is not that simple: in some fields plastics are quite clearly superior, in others – such as in wet wipes – we do not need them. In the textile area in my opinion it is still not necessary to have such a high share of synthetic fibers, we could definitely make 50 or 60 percent of cellulosic fibers. I also believe that wood-based cellulose fibers, as a whole, will become even more widespread, the properties are getting better and better. I hope that the Commission opens the door and recognizes the use of single-use products as a sustainable alternative thus laying the foundation for a stop to the use of fossil plastics.

Many thanks for this delightful, concluding note – and for the talk.