Anaerobic Degradability of Commercially Available Bio-Based and Oxo-Degradable Packaging Materials in the Context of their End of Life in the Waste Management Strategy

Magdalena Zaborowska, Katarzyna Bernat, Bartosz Pszczółkowski, Irena Wojnowska-Baryła and Dorota Kulikowska
Additional contact information
Magdalena Zaborowska: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Sloneczna 45 G, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Katarzyna Bernat: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Sloneczna 45 G, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Bartosz Pszczółkowski: Department of Materials and Machines Technology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Oczapowskiego 11, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Irena Wojnowska-Baryła: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Sloneczna 45 G, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Dorota Kulikowska: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Sloneczna 45 G, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: There are discrepancies concerning the time frame for biodegradation of different commercially available foils labeled as biodegradable; thus, it is essential to provide information about their biodegradability in the context of their end of life in waste management. Therefore, one-year mesophilic (37 °C) anaerobic degradation tests of two bio-based foils (based on starch (F S ), polylactic acid (F PLA )) and oxo-degradable material (F OXO ) were conducted in an OxiTop system. Biodegradation was investigated by measuring biogas production (BP) and analyzing structural changes with differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing and digital microscopic analyses, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. After 1 year, F OXO had not degraded; thus, there were no visible changes on its surface and no BP. The bio-based materials produced small amounts of biogas (25.2, F PLA , and 30.4 L/kg VS, F S ), constituting 2.1–2.5% of theoretical methane potential. The foil pieces were still visible and only starting to show damage; some pores had appeared in their structure. The structure of F PLA became more heterogeneous due to water diffusing into the structure. In contrast, the structure of F S became more homogenous although individual cracks and fissures appeared. The color of F S had changed, indicating that it was beginning to biodegrade. The fact that F S and F PLA showed only minor structural damage after a one-year mesophilic degradation indicates that, in these conditions, these materials would persist for an unknown but long amount of time.

Keywords: polymers; starch- and polylactic-acid-based material; biogas production; FTIR and microscopic analyses; DSC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6818/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6818/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:12:p:6818-:d:576092

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().