Biodegradable plastic bags stir market

Global Marketing Enterp-rises, a south-based manufacturing company, has given the plastic industy a shot in the arm. By creating a biodegradable plastic bag, it has caught the market by surprise.  

Managing Director, Henry Tang Lee, said the company started as a manufacturing agent representing  companies like Soldad Seafoods and La Vega, in 1979. It once specialized in the export of seafood and meats to regional islands. In 1982, someone in his church approached him to sell plastics bags locally and he took the bait. Having no prior experience in the industry, it turned out to be the most significant move of his professional career. It also placed him in the league of local pioneers. He began selling plastic bags locally for the regional distributor but he realised very early in the game, that he would be better off producing the bags himself. Again fate intervened. His pastor gave him brochures on manufacturing bags. The problem was, however, obtaining raw materials from someone other than his biggest competitor on the market, Polymar. “I knew I needed to get in contact with the Ministry of Commerce in order to bring in semi-finished rolls of plastics from countries other than those within CARICOM,” said Tang Lee. At that time no one was allowed to do this, but Tang Lee was sure he could convince the Ministry to grant him permission to import materials from outside CARICOM. “In those days the leading manufacturer had to be present in the meeting with the Ministry, so Polymar was there. I put forward my case and won,” said Tang Lee.

Tang Lee told the Ministry, with Polymar as a major competitor, it would not be in his best interest to purchase his raw materials from them. He argued he needed to look elsewhere for his materials if he hoped to survive. Tang Lee won his case and became the first manufacturer allowed to import raw materials from outside CARICOM. Global started to import plastic rolls from Venezuela and converted them to garbage bags in a small garage in San Fernando. His brand of Victory bags became distinctly recognisable on supermarket shelves. But, the depressed state of the economy in the 1980’s forced Global to stop importing its raw materials. Tang Lee found an old extruder in Trincity and decided to try his hand at the extruding of plastic rolls. “It was rusty and cobwebbed, but it worked and we no longer had to bring in the rolls from Venezuela,” said Tang Lee. The company is now  known for its revolutionary ‘‘star seal’’ garbage bags, where the bags are held together at the bottom in a star shaped seal that is completely unorthodox for the industry. The creation of this design is something that Tang Lee keeps under lock and key. “When we first brought it out, it was not immediately accepted on the market because customers were not ready to trust something unfamiliar to them. But we have been in production for the last seven years on the star seal and it has been doing very well,” said Tang Lee.

Tang Lee was not about to slow down. His decided to test the waters with biodegradable plastics.  His first attempt to go biodegradable a few years ago, however, proved disastrous. He got a crash course in false advertising when he proved that one company’s bags were not degradable, as they claimed. “People were just using the term biodegradable to draw in people and appease environmentalists. And they were in fact fooling customers. I tested the bags for a year and they did not degrade,” said Tang Lee. At first, finding a reputable company to partner with was difficult but  he formed an alliance with Environmental Plastics Inc (EPI), a Canadian firm known for its cutting edge environmental technologies. Trinidad has since become the 29th country to embrace biodegradable plastic technology through EPI. Global will be using totally degradable plastic additives (TDPA) in its  production of plastic bags. TDPA is produced from commodity polyethylene resins, which allow plastics bags to degrade faster than it would under normal circumstances.  This technology, Tang Lee said,  is virtually unknown in the local plastics industry. Neil Parsanlal, Corporate Communications Officer, Environ-ment Management Authority (EMA)  said Global has  broken new ground in plastics disposal. “A vast majority of materials, particularly plastics find their way to the land fill and the roadsides. Anything we can do to prevent this is better for the environment in the long run,” said Parsanlal. He added that local companies need to follow suit when it comes to dealing with their waste products. For a long time the EMA has been encouraging companies like supermarkets to switch to paper bags and reduce the use of plastics bags. He hopes that the new biodegradable plastics bags offered by Global will start a new trend.

According to Tang lee, Hi Lo Food Stores has become the first local client to use the biodegradable plastic bags. But he plans to go completely biodegradable by next year, so that all his clients will benefit from it. Speaking at the company’s launch with EPI, Junior Trade Minister Dianne Seukeran said the company has set the example for others within the plastics, printing and packaging sector. Global Currently exports to countries like  St Vincent, Grenada, Antigua and Cuba. But even with the steps taken by Global to change the course of the plastics, printing and packaging sector, the EMA feels that changes need to be made at a legislative level to deal with the environmental harm caused by companies. While they agree that biodegradable products will help alleviate a huge part of the problem, Parsanlal said the association is working on getting a Beverage Container Deposit Refund Legislation passed. “This will do for plastics what currently pertains to glass. It will put a value on plastics, making them valuable enough for people to collect and send in to be recycled,” said Parsanlal.