Month: January 2021

From: https://www.european-bioplastics.org/bioplastics/waste-management/composting/

Compostability is a clear benefit when plastic items are mixed with biowaste. Under these conditions, mechanical recycling is not feasible, neither for plastics nor biowaste. The use of compostable plastics makes the mixed waste suitable for organic recycling (composting), enabling the shift from recovery to recycling (a treatment option which ranks higher on the European waste hierarchy). This way, biowaste is diverted from other recycling streams or from landfill and facilitating separate collection – resulting in the creation of more valuable compost.

 

In order to be suitable for organic recycling, products and materials need to meet the strict criteria of the European norm EN 13432 on industrial compostability. Following successful certification, these products and materials are permitted to be advertised and labelled as ‘compostable’. The Seedling label is a well-known mark for products conforming to EN 13432.

The process of biodegradation under aerobic conditions within a time frame of 6-12 weeks is called composting. Composting of industrial products usually takes place in industrial composting plants, where controlled conditions (e.g. temperature, humidity, aeration) are given. Microbes, like bacteria or fungi and their enzymes, are able to “digest” the chain structure of compostable polymers as a source of nutrition. The resulting end products are water, carbon dioxide CO2 and a little biomass.

The speed of biodegradation depends on the temperature (50-70°C are typical for a industrial composting process), humidity (water is required for the process), and the number and types of microbes. In industrial composting facilities, all those requirements are given and certified compostable plastic products are converted into CO2, water and biomass within 6 to 12 weeks. In the food supply chain, in supermarkets or at home, biodegradation occurs at a very low speed in comparison to composting. Organic household waste is collected by source separation from residual waste, such as in bio-bins, and treated in composting plants to produce quality compost.

To find out more about industrial composting, have a look at our background paper.

 

Home composting 

Home-composting – if done properly – can have benefits compared to landfilling and incineration of organic waste: due to lower volumes of waste collected from households it may lead to reduced waste management fees, and it produces compost for private gardening use. However, as with landfilling, home-composting bears the risk of producing greenhouse gases. What is more, some types of kitchen waste with particularly high energy content, such as meat and fish, are not suitable for home-composting. While home-composting can complement industrial composting and biomethanisation in AD plants, it cannot replace it. European Bioplastics recommends the separate collection of organic household waste with a dedicated kerbside waste collection system and subsequent treatment in industrial composting or AD plants. Home-composting should only be considered as an additional option for the treatment of organic waste, especially for garden waste.

More information on home-composting of compostable plastics can be found in our position paper on home-composting.

From:https://www.european-bioplastics.org/bioplastics/materials/

Today, there is a bioplastic alternative for almost every conventional plastic material and corresponding application. Bioplastics – plastics that are biobased, biodegradable, or both – have the same properties as conventional plastics and offer additional advantages, such as a reduced carbon footprint or additional waste management options such as composting. Bioplastics are an essential part of the bioeconomy and a fast-growing, innovative industry that has the potential to decouple economic growth from resource depletion and environmental impact. Bioplastics are a diverse family of materials with differing properties. There are three main groups:

• Biobased or partially biobased non-biodegradable plastics such as biobased PE, PP, or PET (so-called drop-ins) and biobased technical performance polymers such as PTT or TPC-ET;
• Plastics that are both biobased and biodegradable, such as PLA and PHA or PBS;
• Plastics that are based on fossil resources and are biodegradable, such as PBAT.
• Currently, bioplastics represent about one per cent of the about 359 million tonnes of plastic produced annually. But as demand is rising, and with more sophisticated materials, applications, and products emerging, the market is already growing very dynamically.

 

Material properties
Biobased or partially biobased durable plastics, such as biobased or partially biobased PE, PET or PVC, possess properties, which are identical to their conventional versions. These bioplastics are technically equivalent to their fossil counterparts; yet, they help to reduce a product’s carbon footprint. Moreover, they can be mechanically recycled in existing recycling streams.

Additionally, new materials such as PLA, PHA, cellulose or starch-based materials offer solutions with completely new functionalities such as biodegradability and compostability and in some cases optimised barrier properties. Find out more about biodegradable plastics here. Along with the growth in variety of bioplastic materials, properties such as flexibility, durability, printability, transparency, barrier, heat resistancy, gloss and many more have been significantly enhanced.

Accurate claims and labels ensure clarity and trust: Environmental claims of bioplastics materials and products, such as biodegradability and the amount of biomass content, must always be specific, accurate, and ideally provide a third party substantiation for these claims. A label awarded in accordance with independent certification based on acknowledged standards guarantees that the product fulfills the criteria claimed. As non-experts cannot distinguish bioplastics from conventional plastics, reliable certification and labeling based on approved standards provided by CEN, ASTM, or ISO help the consumer to identify these products and inform about additional qualities the material or product possesses. For more information on relevant standards, certificates, and labels, European Bioplastics has compiled a comprehensive Environmental Communications Guide providing general recommendations as well as specific guidelines for communicating environmental claims for bioplastics.