United States Solid Waste and
Environmental Protection Emergency Response EPA 530-F-94-009
Agency (5305) February 1994
Office of Solid Waste
&EPA Environmental
Fact Sheet
EPA SETS DEGRADABILITY
STANDARDS FOR
PLASTIC RING CARRIERS
EPA has made final a rule that sets standards of degradability for plastic
ring carrier devices, commonly used on beverage cans. The rule provides
two options for testing the ring carriers to demonstrate that they degrade.
Current ring carrier technology appears to meet these standards already.
Background
The improper disposal of plastic articles, including plastic ring
carrier devices, results in aesthetic degradation of the environment and
exposes fish and marine wildlife to entanglement and ingestion
hazards. To minimize these hazards, Congress directed EPA to
promulgate a rule that would require that ring carriers be made of
"naturally degradable material which, when discarded, decomposes
within a period established by such regulation." Congress also
specified that the time period for degradation must be "the shortest
period of time consistent with the intended use of the item and the
physical integrity required for such use."
Currently, 27 states have passed laws regarding degradable plastics.
All three processors of plastic ring carriers produce them from a
photodegradable plastic — ethylene carbon monoxide.
Action
EPA has now promulgated a rule that sets standards of photo-
degradability for plastic ring carrier devices. This rule provides two
options for testing the ring carriers to ensure that they degrade: a lab
test and an in situ test. Both tests use the same physical endpoint by
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measuring the brittleness of the ring carriers to indicate the degree of
degradation. Each test has a time limit within which degradation must
occur, and test conditions that simulate marine environmental
conditions.
It is important to note that photodegradable plastic will degrade at
different rates, depending on the amount of ultraviolet light received,
and that seasonal variation of ultraviolet light is greater than
geographic variation. In other words, not only will a ring carrier
degrade more quickly in Miami than in Boston, but it will also take
significantly longer for one to degrade in Miami during winter than
during the summer months.
It is important to note the difference between photodegradable and
biodegradable. Currently there is a photodegradable ring carrier;
however, no biodegradable one has been developed. Photodegradable
plastic items degrade to smaller fragments, and then stop;
biodegradable plastics degrade completely. EPA encourages the
development of biodegradable plastics. EPA has included the in situ
option to allow such biodegrad-ables to be tested and used.
Ideally, the presence of ring carriers should be eliminated from the
marine environment altogether. Improper disposal (such as littering) of
all plastic waste, regardless of their degradability, pose an unnecessary
hazard to mairine wildlife. EPA encourages the ring carrier processors,
ring carrier users, and the general public to work together to prevent
littering and to properly dispose of ring carriers.
For More Information
For further information, or to order a copy of the Federal Register
notice, please call the RCRA Hotline Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.
to 7:30 p.m., EST. The national toll-free number is (800) 424-9346; for
the hearing Impaired, it is (TDD) (800) 553-7672. In Washington, D.C.,
the number is (703) 412-9810 or TDD (703) 412-3323. Or write to:
RCRA Information Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305), U.S. EPA, 401
M Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20460.
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