The study, carried out by Loughborough University, examined the environmental effects of oxo-degradable plastics which are made from the most common types of plastics, but include small amounts of additives to make them degrade at an accelerated rate.

Oxo-degradable plastics are used in plastics bag and packaging and are often advertised as being degradable, biodegradable or environmentally-friendly. However, the study found that using additives to accelerate their degradation will not improve their environment when the being to breakdown into smaller pieces.

It also raised concerns that these plastics are neither suitable for conventional recycling methods, due to the chemical additives, nor suitable for composting, due to the plastics not breaking down fast enough.