{"id":24383,"date":"2015-02-10T03:12:40","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T02:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=24383"},"modified":"2015-02-09T18:11:18","modified_gmt":"2015-02-09T17:11:18","slug":"biodegradable-plastics-claim-upheld-against-ftc-challenge-in-precedent-setting-ecm-biofilms-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/biodegradable-plastics-claim-upheld-against-ftc-challenge-in-precedent-setting-ecm-biofilms-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Biodegradable plastics claim upheld against FTC challenge in precedent setting ECM BioFilms\u2019 case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Washington, D.C. \u2013 On January 28, 2015, Federal Trade Commission Chief\u00a0Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell issued a precedent setting decision in the case of\u00a0FTC v. ECM BioFilms, FTC Docket No. 9358.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In his decision, Judge Chappell held ECM\u2019s claim that its plastics additive, ECM\u00a0MasterBatch Pellets\u2122, causes plastics to biodegrade was supported by competent and reliable\u00a0scientific evidence. He rejected FTC\u2019s challenge to that claim. He also rejected FTC\u2019s argument that the term \u201cbiodegradable\u201d implies that a product will completely biodegrade into elements found in nature within one year after customary disposal\u2014a position articulated in the FTC\u2019s\u00a0Green Guides industry guidance. He upheld the FTC\u2019s position challenging the specific rate\u00a0within which ECM plastic degrades, given the unpredictable fate of plastics in the environment.<\/p>\n<p>ECM BioFilms discontinued making the challenged rate claim years before the decision. Judge\u00a0Chappell refused to include any fencing-in provisions as a part of his order. \u00a0ECM BioFilms intends to abide by all terms of the order pending appeal and has issued\u00a0the following corporate statement: \u201cECM BioFilms respects the decision of administrative Law\u00a0Judge Chappell. We are particularly gratified that Judge Chappell determined, based on a thorough review of all scientific evidence, that ECM\u2019s representation that its ECM\u00a0MasterBatch Pellets\u2122\u00a0cause plastics to biodegrade is supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have long since discontinued making claims concerning estimated periods within which\u00a0biodegradation may occur and have no intention of making such claims in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ECM BioFilms is represented by the constitutional and administrative law firm, Emord &amp;\u00a0Associates, P.C.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>More Information<\/h3>\n<p>UNITED STATES OF AMERICA<br \/>\nFEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION<br \/>\nOFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecmbiofilms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Docket-9358-Initial-Decision.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">DOCKET NO. 9358<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the Matter of<br \/>\nECM BIOFILMS, INC.,<br \/>\na corporation, also d\/b\/a<br \/>\nEnviroplastics International,<br \/>\nRespondent.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecmbiofilms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Docket-9358-Initial-Decision.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">INITIAL DECISION<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, D.C. \u2013 On January 28, 2015, Federal Trade Commission Chief\u00a0Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell issued a precedent setting decision in the case of\u00a0FTC v. ECM BioFilms, FTC Docket No. 9358. In his decision, Judge Chappell held ECM\u2019s claim that its plastics additive, ECM\u00a0MasterBatch Pellets\u2122, causes plastics to biodegrade was supported by competent and [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[],"supplier":[2286,9152,1931],"class_list":["post-24383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","supplier-ecm-biofilms-inc","supplier-emord-associates","supplier-federal-trade-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24383"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=24383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}