[Draft] Research and Production of Biodegradable Plastics

by **Gryphonian Alliance** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 11:34 am

Draft 1:

Draft 2:

Draft 3:

Research and Production of Biodegradable Plastics

A resolution to increase the quality of the world's environment, at the expense of industry.

Category: Environmental
Industry Affected: Manufacturing
Proposed by: Gryphonian Alliance

The General Assembly,

Aware that the overwhelming majority of plastics used around the world today are petroleum-based;

Concerned that the most commonly used petroleum-based plastics take decades or even centuries to naturally decompose into smaller compounds;

Likewise concerned that these compounds and the plastics they come from pose a significant threat to wildlife and human health;

Understanding that many biodegradable plastics are currently too expensive and/or low-performance compared to traditional petroleum-based plastics;

Wishing to encourage all nations to increase usage of more environmentally-friendly products;

Hereby:

1) Defines "biodegradable plastics" for the purposes of this resolution as any compounds that can be molded into a variety of shapes (plastics) that are specifically capable of entirely decomposing under microbial action into nontoxic compounds within one year, whether that be under conditions found in an open environment, landfills, freshwater, saltwater, soil, or industrial composting facilities.

2) Requires all member nations to fund research and production of biodegradable plastics with the goal of finding and distributing information on cheaper and more accessible production methods for economically viable, high-performance biodegradable plastics and the secondary goal of increasing usage of these plastics in the manufacturing of plastic-based products;

3) Establishes the International Plastics Regulation Committee (IPRC) within the World Assembly Scientific Programme (WASP) and charges it with:
(a) Investigating compliance with this resolution among all member nations through the reception of annual reports supplied by each nation on the quantity of subsidies and/or funding and the effectiveness of funding research working towards the goal of this resolution in the form of information on the quantities, production/disposal methods, and types of biodegradable plastics produced in each nation, along with the degree of success in proper disposal and degradation of those plastics, and effectiveness of enforcement of this resolution on the national level;
(b) Reviewing these reports and providing recommendations to member nations supporting international collaboration on plastics research or instructions on how to better apply subsidies or funding mandated by this resolution;
(c) Cooperating with the WACC (GAR#390) and IAO (GAR#440) to maintain member nation compliance with this resolution;
(d) Allowing nations found to have sufficient biodegradable plastics research and public usage/proper disposal of products made with those materials to no longer have to abide by this resolution unless the applicable nations fail to continue this research and production, upon which the resolution will once again be imposed on them;
(e) Exempting those member nations that do not produce plastics of any sort from having to fund production of biodegradable plastics;
(f) Exempting those member nations that the committee deems to have a critically strained economy and/or are suffering from a debilitating national crisis from having to fund production and research until they are stabilized;

4) Encourages all member nations that consume plastic products to reduce usage of plastics requiring year-length timespans or greater to degrade and those that release harmful chemicals upon decomposition.

by **Araraukar** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 5:32 pm

Gryphonian Alliance wrote:
Research and Production of Biodegradable Plastics

A resolution to increase the quality of the world's environment, at the expense of industry.

Category: Environmental
Strength: Mild
Proposed by: Gryphonian Alliance

The General Assembly,

Aware of the widespread use of petroleum-based plastics around the world;

Concerned that these plastics take decades or even centuries to naturally decompose into smaller compounds;

Likewise concerned that these compounds and the plastics they come from pose a significant threat to wildlife and human health;

Wishing to encourage all nations to increase usage of more environmentally-friendly products;

Hereby:

1) Requires all member nations to subsidize research and production of biodegradable plastics with the goal of finding and distributing information on cheaper and more accessible production methods of economically viable biodegradable plastics or plastic alternatives and the secondary goal of increasing usage of these plastics in the manufacturing of plastic-based products;

2) Establishes the International Plastics Regulation Committee (IPRC) within the World Assembly Scientific Programme (WASP) and charges it with:
(a) Investigating compliance with this resolution among all member nations through the reception of annual reports supplied by each nation on the quantity of subsidies and those subsidies' effectiveness in funding research working towards the goal of this resolution, information on the quantities of the biodegradable plastics produced per nation, and effectiveness of enforcement of this resolution on the national level;
(b) Reviewing these reports and providing recommendations to member nations supporting international collaboration on plastics research or instructions on how to better apply subsidies mandated by this resolution;

3) Empowers the IPRC to levy fines on noncompliant member nations;

4) Encourages all member nations to reduce usage of plastics requiring longer timespans to degrade and those that release harmful chemicals upon decomposition.

OOC: Welcome to the GA forum!

You clearly have some idea of how resolutions work, and this isn't bad for a first draft.

Some points to consider:

Why are you making the WA nations provide reports on the subsidizing (that is, financing), and not the actual manufacturing and use?
You're requiring nations to subsidize research (how do you even subsidize research? isn't that just funding research?) and production of biodegradeable plastics even if they were already in use in the nation - these kinds of resolutions usually have the "unless already in use" clause.
Many plastics are biodegradeable under very specific circumstances - are we talking about "out there in nature", "in a managed landfill" or "in laboratory conditions"? Many actual RL biodegradeable plastics need to be composted (usually at landfill sites) to biodegrade - if just thrown into a ditch and left there, they take ages.
Also, exactly what do you mean by "biodegrade"? There are different levels of it.
Given you mention oil in the preamble, what of nonbiodegradeable plastics not made from oil?
What of nations with no plastic-producing industry? Are you trying to mandate that they have to create one? Wouldn't that just cause more pollution?
I don't think you're giving enough for nations to do (encouragement doesn't count) to have anything actually fine them for failing to do. You're mandating subsidies and reports, that's all.
Also, there are legitimate reasons why nations can't always be all the time in compliance with non-essential (read: their population won't die if this isn't followed) resolutions, because catastrophes can happen that strain the nation's resources and force them to in short term resort to not-ideal methods to keep everyone alive, so if you then further punish them with fines, you're really helping no-one at all.

Have you checked the Passed Resolutions for anything on the topic of oil and plastics? They exist in a neat thread on this forum.

by **Liberimery** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 6:23 pm

I admit I’m not up to date in the latest in plastics manufacturing and recycling. Could you specifically name plastic items that would be acceptable under this resolution and are available to public on the common market today? The language of this resolution seems to suggest that such a product must first be invented before it can be used in place of existing products.

by **Grays Harbor** » Sat Aug 03, 2019 1:07 pm

Plastic products are more than just straws and soda bottles, you understand this ... right? There are many, if not most, products made from plastics that the Last thing you want is for them to be degraded. Pipelines and plumbing, furniture, clothing, car and truck parts, medical equipment ... those are just a few off the top of my head. This one-size-fits-nobody demand that all plastic products conform to this arbitrary standard is ridiculous. “Going green” is not a valid blanket excuse for ignoring consequences and reality.

by **Bears Armed** » Sun Aug 04, 2019 3:23 am

Liberimery wrote:I admit I’m not up to date in the latest in plastics manufacturing and recycling. Could you specifically name plastic items that would be acceptable under this resolution and are available to public on the common market today? The language of this resolution seems to suggest that such a product must first be invented before it can be used in place of existing products.

Cellophane should presumably be allowed, as it's made from cellulose (extracted mainly from wood-pulp) and can be broken down by the same microbes that attack cellulose. Also, horn (as in, from the horns of cattle) is a naturally-occurring plastic that can be re-shaped when heated to the right temperature and saw extensive use in RL.

by **Liberimery** » Sun Aug 04, 2019 2:19 pm

Bears Armed wrote:
Liberimery wrote:I admit I’m not up to date in the latest in plastics manufacturing and recycling. Could you specifically name plastic items that would be acceptable under this resolution and are available to public on the common market today? The language of this resolution seems to suggest that such a product must first be invented before it can be used in place of existing products.

Cellophane should presumably be allowed, as it's made from cellulose (extracted mainly from wood-pulp) and can be broken down by the same microbes that attack cellulose. Also, horn (as in, from the horns of cattle) is a naturally-occurring plastic that can be re-shaped when heated to the right temperature and saw extensive use in RL.

So then what would be the impediments to switching to this substances over Petroleum Plastics?

by **Grays Harbor** » Sun Aug 04, 2019 2:52 pm

Liberimery wrote:
Bears Armed wrote:Cellophane should presumably be allowed, as it's made from cellulose (extracted mainly from wood-pulp) and can be broken down by the same microbes that attack cellulose. Also, horn (as in, from the horns of cattle) is a naturally-occurring plastic that can be re-shaped when heated to the right temperature and saw extensive use in RL.

So then what would be the impediments to switching to this substances over Petroleum Plastics?

For one thing, a total industrial infrastructure change, something which will bankrupt even the most robust economies.

by **Gryphonian Alliance** » Sun Aug 04, 2019 7:18 pm

Thanks for all the advice, I'll rework my draft.

Edit:

Grays Harbor wrote:-snipped for length-

All this resolution does is tell nations to fund research on and production of biodegradable plastics, and encourages them to decrease usage of those that aren't biodegradable. This bill isn't saying we get rid of them entirely.

Araraukar wrote:-snipped for length-

About nonbiodegradable plastics not made from oil, those are relatively uncommon. Most plastics used right now are petroleum-based.

Liberimery wrote:So then what would be the impediments to switching to this substances over Petroleum Plastics?

Grays Harbor wrote:For one thing, a total industrial infrastructure change, something which will bankrupt even the most robust economies.

This bill is mild strength for that reason. What this resolution is trying to accomplish is incentivizing companies to start making more biodegradable plastics, making them an viable competitor to traditional petroleum-based plastics.

by **Araraukar** » Tue Aug 06, 2019 6:18 am

OOC: Read this, follow the links and read them too: https://theconversation.com/when-biodeg ... ble-116368

EDIT: Also, Environmental doesn't have strengths, it has Areas of Effect. To get the mild strength, you'll want "All Businesses: Mild" as the AoE. But given the subsidies to industry, this would likely fit Advancement of Industry better than Environmental.

by **Kenmoria** » Tue Aug 06, 2019 7:35 am

“The Administrative Compliance Act already covers noncompliance, so there is no need for you to do so as well.”

by **Bears Armed** » Tue Aug 06, 2019 7:36 am

Liberimery wrote:
Bears Armed wrote:Cellophane should presumably be allowed, as it's made from cellulose (extracted mainly from wood-pulp) and can be broken down by the same microbes that attack cellulose. Also, horn (as in, from the horns of cattle) is a naturally-occurring plastic that can be re-shaped when heated to the right temperature and saw extensive use in RL.

So then what would be the impediments to switching to this substances over Petroleum Plastics?

Cellophane is weaker and less versatile than polythene [etc], and of course to produce very pair of horns you need to produce an entire [& fairly full-grown] cow, bull, or steer.

by **Borovan entered the region as he** » Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:30 pm

Bumperino

This was submitted with at the time with 44 approvals pending I day by gryphonian alliance
https://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_vi ... 1567885793

by **Araraukar** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 11:09 am

Research and Production of Biodegradable Plastics

Category: Environmental
Industry Affected: Manufacturing

The General Assembly,

Aware that the overwhelming majority of plastics used around the world today are petroleum-based;

Concerned that the most commonly used petroleum-based plastics take decades or even centuries to naturally decompose into smaller compounds;

Likewise concerned that these compounds and the plastics they come from pose a significant threat to wildlife and human health;

Understanding that many biodegradable plastics are currently too expensive and/or low-performance compared to traditional petroleum-based plastics;

Wishing to encourage all nations to increase usage of more environmentally-friendly products;

Hereby:

1) Defines "biodegradable plastics" for the purposes of this resolution as any compounds that can be molded into a variety of shapes (plastics) that are specifically capable of entirely decomposing under microbial action into nontoxic compounds within one year, whether that be under conditions found in an open environment, landfills, freshwater, saltwater, soil, or industrial composting facilities.

2) Requires all member nations to fund research and production of biodegradable plastics with the goal of finding and distributing information on cheaper and more accessible production methods for economically viable, high-performance biodegradable plastics and the secondary goal of increasing usage of these plastics in the manufacturing of plastic-based products;

3) Establishes the International Plastics Regulation Committee (IPRC) within the World Assembly Scientific Programme (WASP) and charges it with:
(a) Investigating compliance with this resolution among all member nations through the reception of annual reports supplied by each nation on the quantity of subsidies and/or funding and the effectiveness of funding research working towards the goal of this resolution in the form of information on the quantities, production/disposal methods, and types of biodegradable plastics produced in each nation, along with the degree of success in proper disposal and degradation of those plastics, and effectiveness of enforcement of this resolution on the national level;
(b) Reviewing these reports and providing recommendations to member nations supporting international collaboration on plastics research or instructions on how to better apply subsidies or funding mandated by this resolution;
(c) Allowing nations found to have sufficient biodegradable plastics research and public usage/proper disposal of products made with those materials to no longer have to abide by this resolution unless the applicable nations fail to continue this research and production, upon which the resolution will once again be imposed on them;
(d) Exempting those member nations that do not produce plastics of any sort from having to fund production of biodegradable plastics;
(e) Exempting those member nations that the committee deems to have a critically strained economy and/or are suffering from a debilitating national crisis from having to fund production and research until they are stabilized;

4) Encourages all member nations that consume plastic products to reduce usage of plastics requiring year-length timespans or greater to degrade and those that release harmful chemicals upon decomposition.

OOC: Definition basically means no RL bioplastics that are good for anything (well, anything that needs to not break down and fail quickly), would fit under the definition, clause 2 is an Advancement of Industry clause, rather than Environmental, clause 3 is committee and requiring filing reports to the committee, and completely misunderstands how research that was done in the past, aka the information itself, doesn't just randomly stop existing, even if no new research was done on the subject, and clause 4 would catch most bioplastics, especially in areas of planets where half the year much of the plastic-decomposing biological activity in the nature is basically stopped because winter, under the plastics the use of which needs to be reduced, but even then that's usage of plastic, not manufacture. So it fails the AoE and possibly category too, and is in bits very confused (and thus confusing) in a very one-size-fits-none manner.

Likely will fail quorum, but even if it didn't, and chances are that with the title looking like something worth supporting making it likely to pass, I cba do legality challenge because any resolution passing in Environmental will help my stats.

I would still suggest the author to have a serious rethink about exactly what the limits are of what they're suggesting, and what the alternatives would be. If you had to, for example, get rid of water pipes that are normally non-degrading plastic, you'd have to replace them with metal. And don't even get me started on the plastics used to keep people from randomly electrocuting themselves when using any home appliances. Use of wood would also shoot through the roof (oh and say byebyes to traffick and travel in any other form than Amish horse buggy or on foot), meaning more forests would be cut down, and you really don't need to see much trouble to find out RL info on how seriously bad deforestation is as an issue even now.

Seriously, even the device you connect to the Internet with, wouldn't exist if not non-degrading plastics. Look through your house to see how many parts of it and the things in it are plastic, and then add another 50-75% for the ones you can't see because they're inside walls or underground or you don't realize are or contain durable plastics. Biodegradeability is good when making one-use items. It's not good when you want to make something that ideally lasts for decades.

Also, most plastics are very recyclable, while your proposal doesn't even consider recycling being a thing that exists.

by **Kenmoria** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 2:51 pm

Borovan entered the region as he wrote:Bumperino

This was submitted with at the time with 44 approvals pending I day by gryphonian alliance
https://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_vi ... 1567885793

(OOC: Author, you should have waited longer for submission. As you can see in the post above mine, there were numerous issues with your draft, which could have been fixed with a longer drafting period. It is a marathon to get a proposal into the law books, not a sprint.)

by **Gryphonian Alliance** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:16 pm

Araraukar wrote:
OOC: Definition basically means no RL bioplastics that are good for anything (well, anything that needs to not break down and fail quickly), would fit under the definition, clause 2 is an Advancement of Industry clause, rather than Environmental, clause 3 is committee and requiring filing reports to the committee, and completely misunderstands how research that was done in the past, aka the information itself, doesn't just randomly stop existing, even if no new research was done on the subject, and clause 4 would catch most bioplastics, especially in areas of planets where half the year much of the plastic-decomposing biological activity in the nature is basically stopped because winter, under the plastics the use of which needs to be reduced, but even then that's usage of plastic, not manufacture. So it fails the AoE and possibly category too, and is in bits very confused (and thus confusing) in a very one-size-fits-none manner.

Likely will fail quorum, but even if it didn't, and chances are that with the title looking like something worth supporting making it likely to pass, I cba do legality challenge because any resolution passing in Environmental will help my stats.

I would still suggest the author to have a serious rethink about exactly what the limits are of what they're suggesting, and what the alternatives would be. If you had to, for example, get rid of water pipes that are normally non-degrading plastic, you'd have to replace them with metal. And don't even get me started on the plastics used to keep people from randomly electrocuting themselves when using any home appliances. Use of wood would also shoot through the roof (oh and say byebyes to traffick and travel in any other form than Amish horse buggy or on foot), meaning more forests would be cut down, and you really don't need to see much trouble to find out RL info on how seriously bad deforestation is as an issue even now.

Seriously, even the device you connect to the Internet with, wouldn't exist if not non-degrading plastics. Look through your house to see how many parts of it and the things in it are plastic, and then add another 50-75% for the ones you can't see because they're inside walls or underground or you don't realize are or contain durable plastics. Biodegradeability is good when making one-use items. It's not good when you want to make something that ideally lasts for decades.

Also, most plastics are very recyclable, while your proposal doesn't even consider recycling being a thing that exists.

This resolution does not directly take away our non-degradable plastics. All it does it get countries to research and produce biodegradable alternatives, which means companies can continue to produce however many home appliances or anything that are made of petroleum-based plastics they want. (In addition there's Clause 4 which encourages countries to decrease usage of those more environmentally harmful substances.) Other than that your criticism seems pretty valid, thanks for the response.

Kenmoria wrote:
(OOC: Author, you should have waited longer for submission. As you can see in the post above mine, there were numerous issues with your draft, which could have been fixed with a longer drafting period. It is a marathon to get a proposal into the law books, not a sprint.)

Yes, I'll keep that in mind in the future. I waited a month without receiving any more feedback so I decided to submit thinking I'd covered the major issues, but I didn't realize it was allowed on this forum to bump my thread to get more comments from people.

by **Borovan entered the region as he** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 7:45 pm

Gryphonian Alliance wrote:
Araraukar wrote:
OOC: Definition basically means no RL bioplastics that are good for anything (well, anything that needs to not break down and fail quickly), would fit under the definition, clause 2 is an Advancement of Industry clause, rather than Environmental, clause 3 is committee and requiring filing reports to the committee, and completely misunderstands how research that was done in the past, aka the information itself, doesn't just randomly stop existing, even if no new research was done on the subject, and clause 4 would catch most bioplastics, especially in areas of planets where half the year much of the plastic-decomposing biological activity in the nature is basically stopped because winter, under the plastics the use of which needs to be reduced, but even then that's usage of plastic, not manufacture. So it fails the AoE and possibly category too, and is in bits very confused (and thus confusing) in a very one-size-fits-none manner.

Likely will fail quorum, but even if it didn't, and chances are that with the title looking like something worth supporting making it likely to pass, I cba do legality challenge because any resolution passing in Environmental will help my stats.

I would still suggest the author to have a serious rethink about exactly what the limits are of what they're suggesting, and what the alternatives would be. If you had to, for example, get rid of water pipes that are normally non-degrading plastic, you'd have to replace them with metal. And don't even get me started on the plastics used to keep people from randomly electrocuting themselves when using any home appliances. Use of wood would also shoot through the roof (oh and say byebyes to traffick and travel in any other form than Amish horse buggy or on foot), meaning more forests would be cut down, and you really don't need to see much trouble to find out RL info on how seriously bad deforestation is as an issue even now.

Seriously, even the device you connect to the Internet with, wouldn't exist if not non-degrading plastics. Look through your house to see how many parts of it and the things in it are plastic, and then add another 50-75% for the ones you can't see because they're inside walls or underground or you don't realize are or contain durable plastics. Biodegradeability is good when making one-use items. It's not good when you want to make something that ideally lasts for decades.

Also, most plastics are very recyclable, while your proposal doesn't even consider recycling being a thing that exists.
This resolution does not directly take away our non-degradable plastics. All it does it get countries to research and produce biodegradable alternatives, which means companies can continue to produce however many home appliances or anything that are made of petroleum-based plastics they want. (In addition there's Clause 4 which encourages countries to decrease usage of those more environmentally harmful substances.) Other than that your criticism seems pretty valid, thanks for the response.

Kenmoria wrote:
(OOC: Author, you should have waited longer for submission. As you can see in the post above mine, there were numerous issues with your draft, which could have been fixed with a longer drafting period. It is a marathon to get a proposal into the law books, not a sprint.)

Yes, I'll keep that in mind in the future. I waited a month without receiving any more feedback so I decided to submit thinking I'd covered the major issues, but I didn't realize it was allowed on this forum to bump my thread to get more comments from people.

Its permissible to bump a thread as long as if u do it after it falls off a page or one day whichever is latest. However interest is also a matter.

See example Kyrusia's ruling viewtopic.php?p=34906580#p34906580

by **Sierra Lyricalia** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 8:17 pm

OOC: Please note that Clause 3(c) remains a House of Cards violation. The most you can do would be to cite "existing WA law" or words to that effect.

by **Araraukar** » Sat Sep 14, 2019 10:07 am

Gryphonian Alliance wrote:This resolution does not directly take away our non-degradable plastics.

OOC: Not. The. Point. It's a bad idea the way you tackle the issue, given that pretty much all RL biodegradeable plastics don't meet your definition.

All it does it get countries to research and produce biodegradable alternatives

So it's Advancement of Industry, instead of Environmental. Also, you continue requiring that even if the nation's already at the point you want it to get to. Your currentmost draft: "unless the applicable nations fail to continue this research and production". If you continue production but don't continue the research (because you already have a working product), then you have to waste money on continuing the research unnecessarily. In addition to which your clause 2 is very confusing right now, and should be split into at least two separate ones.

which means companies can continue to produce however many home appliances or anything that are made of petroleum-based plastics they want.

Then what is the whole proposal good for?

I waited a month without receiving any more feedback

That's a valid reason to bump it up. You should bump it up if you've edited the draft (beyond fixing typos anyway), as that's also a valid point to ask for additional feeback. If you don't edit it to fix the bits already pointed out as problematic, what's the use to post more feedback, as you don't act on it? And if you just edit the draft in the first post without letting anyone know, how are people supposed to know? It doesn't show up as a thread with new content.

[Draft] Research and Production of Biodegradable Plastics

[Draft] Research and Production of Biodegradable Plastics

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