Evaluating the Ready Biodegradability of Biodegradable Plastics

Abstract

Reducing the environmental burden and assessing the safety of plastics are huge global challenges. However, standard test data on the ready biodegradability of plastics are limited. We evaluated the ready biodegradability of 8 biodegradable plastics using Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) test guideline 301F with nonspecific bacteria and examined the effects of prolonging the test duration to a maximum of 90 d. Cellulose used as a potential reference material for plastics was not comparable to the reference material of OECD test guideline 301, but it may be improved by using a test concentration lower than the typical test concentration (100 mg/L). Of the 8 plastics examined, polyamide 4, poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyhexanoate), polycaprolactone, and poly(butylene succinate adipate; PBSA) were biodegraded by >60% by day 28 and considered to show ready biodegradability. Poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate; PHB), poly(3‐hydroxybutyric acid‐co‐3‐hydroxyvaleric acid; PHBV), and poly(butylene succinate; PBS) were biodegraded but did not fulfill the ready biodegradability criteria. Because the typical test concentration is considered to have negative effects on biodegradation and calculation of biodegradation percentage, using a lower concentration may result in PHB, PHBV, and PBS fulfilling the ready biodegradability criteria. Poly(d,l‐lactide; PLA) was not biodegraded. The biodegradation of PBS and PBSA was noted to vary depending on the used inoculum and/or particle size. For the 7 plastics except PLA, the percentage biodegradation on day 60 was larger than that on day 28, indicating that a longer test period could be useful for evaluating the environmental persistence of plastics. In tests in which the plastics were not biodegraded by day 60, no marked biodegradation was observed by day 90. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:2443–2449. © 2021 SETAC

Sourcing, thermodynamics, and ring-opening (co)polymerization of substituted δ-lactones: a review

“…Polyesters such as poly(lactide) (PLA) or poly(caprolactone) (PCL) are already commercialized and are indeed biodegradable under certain conditions. [12][13][14][15][16] Polyesters possess a wide variety of properties making them suitable for many applications such as biomedicine, electronics or packaging. [17][18][19][20] Aliphatic polyesters are produced by two methodologies.…”

Predicting the Glass Transition Temperature of Biopolymers via High-Throughput Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Machine Learning

“…On the one hand, state-of-the-art procedures to assess biodegrability of chemicals, polymers, and plastics are experimental. 5,6 On the other hand, the complex assessment of sustainability benefits and trade-offs requires scrutiny of the entire life cycle of polymers (feedstock harvesting, processing steps, and end-of-life scenarios). For more detail, the reader is referred to recent and thorough reviews.…”

“…Indeed, despite their high interest and relevance, the questions of biodegradability and sustainability of biopolymers are beyond the scope of the current work. On the one hand, state-of-the-art procedures to assess biodegrability of chemicals, polymers, and plastics are experimental. , On the other hand, the complex assessment of sustainability benefits and trade-offs requires scrutiny of the entire life cycle of polymers (feedstock harvesting, processing steps, and end-of-life scenarios). For more detail, the reader is referred to recent and thorough reviews. , Besides, while the terms polymers and plastics are often used interchangeably depending on the context, here we reserve the usage of plastics to address commercial products made from processed polymers while we focus our study on biopolymers for nonplastic applications …”

Biodegradable Polymer Materials Based on Polyethylene and Natural Rubber: Acquiring, Investigation, Properties

“…Due to their large molecular weight, polyolefin molecules cannot be easily assimilated by microorganisms. The hydrophobic nature of polyolefins limits the effect of microbial enzymes on them, and the stabilizers contained in industrial polymers prevent oxidation during processing and degradation [49,50]. In this regard, there is a need to modify the polyethylene matrix in such a way that, while maintaining the main operational properties of the product, it would be possible to dispose of it after the expiration of its use under the influence of the environmental microbiota.…”

“…To address this issue, it is necessary to study various aspects of mixing semi-crystalline and amorphous polymers to study the physical and mechanical properties of materials, surface hydrophilicity and biodegradation of composites as a result of composting in soil. But despite the fact that there is a large amount of research on the creation of films for agriculture, there are still not enough of these materials on the market [49][50][51]. Thus, the purpose of our work was to study the structure of mixtures based on polyethylene and natural rubber to evaluate their biodegradation and to analyze the properties of such polymer composites that can be used in agriculture, packaging and other areas of light industry.…”