Waste Busters, a private sector company, has launched biodegradable garbage bags in Lahore. These bags are made from TDPA(r) technology introduced in Pakistan by Environmental Products International (EPI) from Canada, which converts regular plastic bags into biodegradable plastic bags which disintegrate within 90 days due to the chemical reaction of air and sunlight with the plastic additives used in producing these bags.
Waste Busters has introduced these biodegradable plastic garbage bags to 100,000 households in Pakistan and it hopes that this number would increase in the near future once people see the efficacy of this product. Green Force (Pvt) Ltd, the sole distributor of this technology in Pakistan says that they introduced the product in the Pakistan market in the end of 2010 and have already got commitments from major retail and food chains.
The cost of TDPA(r) technology used in the process is very low compared to the regular starch contained plastic products. The additional cost that the consumers would pay for the war against plastic pollution is not more than 0.15 paisas per bag, said Asif Farooqui, Chief Executive Officer of Waste Busters.