Compostability and Biodegradability of Plastic Materials: A New Quality of Materials Properties
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Compostability and Biodegradability of Plastic Materials: A New Quality of Materials Properties Udo Pagga Biological Waste Treatment In many European countries the controlled biological treatment of organic solid waste is a suitable method in waste management. Technical prerequisites such as collection and separation systems for household waste often exist and sufficient treatment facilities for controlled aerobic composting or even anaerobic digestion are available. Space for landfill is scarce and therefore expensive in many industrial countries and biotreatment is much cheaper than incineration. The advantage of composting compared to other waste treatment techniques is not only the relatively low costs but also the technical reasons. An obvious example is the direct disposal of packaging with alimentary residues and the subsequent biological treatment. Not only green waste from gardens or biowaste from kitchens can be treated, but any compostable material is in principle suitable, for example waste from the food industry or packaging and packaging materials made from paper, cardboard, wood, or biodegradable plastics. Biological treatment has already become a good way of meeting, for example, Germany legislative targets to reduce and recycle garbage. Prerequisites for controlled biological treatment are suitable technical facilities plus standards and directives for waste management. An example is the European packaging directive1^ which harmonizes national measures concerning the management of packaging and packaging waste. The aim is to prevent any impact of the use of packaging on the environment or to reduce such an impact. For applying this directive and any similar regulations, it is important to have clear definitions, standardized test methods, and suitable evaluMRS BULLETIN/NOVEMBER 1997
ation criteria to identify biodegradable packaging materials and to differentiate compostable from noncompostable packaging materials which can commonly be used and the results of which are accepted by all parties concerned. Comparable standards for identifying compostable plastics are produced on a national level (e.g., in Germany) and by ISO for international use. Biodegradability and Compostability Standards General Standards and Materials Characterization For standards and regulations, clear aims and definitions are important so that everybody knows what is intended by a standard or meant by a certain expression. In this case, for example, compostability and biodegradability are not identical. Complete biodegradability is an essential prerequisite for compostability and has to be proven in laboratory tests but it is not the only criterion. ISO3 and CEN4 as well as DIN5 provide general standards which form the basis for a decision as to which materials may be composted or anaerobically treated. These standards include the following steps: characterization of the material composition, determination of ultimate biodegradability in laboratory tests and disintegration in pilot or fullscale treatment plants, detection of
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