Well, Joyce, my first remark is exposing DVDs/VHS tapes to sunlight is a big mistake, especially in the greenhouse of a plastic case. "Direct sunlight can harm VHS tapes One of the most damaging environmental conditions that can degrade the longevity of a VHS tape is if it has been stored in direct sunlight. Direct sunlight dramatically reduces how long a VHS tape can last." From http://www.memoryhub.com/news/how-long-do-vhs-tapes-last/ The same can apply to optical storage, especially R types. I'm pretty sure that plastic degradation does not occur with a couple of minutes, or even hours, exposure to sunlight through a window which blocks UV. Personally, I see no objection to using bioplastics for packaging video records of any type and I would not shoot the 'engineer' who selected those plastics. I take on board your point about recycling bioplastics, something that I haven't considered. However, I must ask that, if they become a powder at the drop of a hat, how can you recycle them? Best regards, Brian. On 03/07/2015 16:01, Joyce Koo wrote: > I just have to vent: some of my VHS and DVD cover plastic overlay turn > into dust upon expose to the sunlight. Who is the engineer to select bio > degradable plastic as cover overlay should get shot at... dealt with a > plastic bag that holding my design book last year with similar outcome... > Hopefully, no body put those stuff (not in the plastic recycle bin that > eventually went mixed with others) in some of bridge rebar coating or > something like that... the half baked engineer plus politically > correctness mentality is really scary. (don't know what else of those > friendly materials was into our life - both dvd and vhs are made in > china... would think vhs would be safe -before friendly caught on > fashion... but appear to be not the case...). Try to pick up those small > crystalline static dust is not fun... it is everywhere... > on this cheery note, Have a nice weekend. > jk > > ______________________________________________________________________ > This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. > For more information please contact helpdesk at x2960 or [log in to unmask] > ______________________________________________________________________ > ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. For more information please contact helpdesk at x2960 or [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________