Over the past quarter century the idea of green business has expanded from a fringe group of hippie capitalists trying to increase environmental consciousness to mainstream corporations trying to establish a global standard for sustainable business. Today, most major companies have social responsibility departments, and moving to greener practices is a priority. Frankly, it’s one of the reasons my business, TerraCycle, is flourishing.
This new landscape is encouraging but full of challenges and pitfalls. A great example is the almost blind embrace of all things “biodegradable.” I used quotation marks around the term because there is disagreement as to what it means. And the debate about whether businesses should embrace biodegradable plastic — P.L.A., or polylactic acid — for use, say, as packaging or in utensils, is an important one.
Source: The New York Times
By TOM SZAKY