Prof. Brandon Gilroyed, with the University of Guelph’s School of Environmental Sciences, is available to discuss the difficulties in creating plastic bags that are truly biodegradable.

Gilroyed studies renewable energy production from agricultural waste products. He has studied potential fuel uses for waste corn stalks, as well as the conversion of materials from the beef cattle industry into biogas using anaerobic digestion.

A new British study found that many shopping bags marketed as “biodegradable” break down more slowly than expected. The study found that many bags can still hold full shopping loads three years after disposal in soil or water.

Gilroyed recently spoke to Vice Canada, noting that the bar for labelling a plastic bag as “biodegradable” is low. He said such bags typically break down only under perfectly engineered composting conditions.

Based at U of G’s Ridgetown Campus, Gilroyed has studied molecular genetics and environmental engineering. He was previously an NSERC post-doctoral researcher at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research Station.

Contact:

Prof. Brandon Gilroyed
bgilroye@uoguelph.ca