Ever noticed a shopping bag at the supermarket labeled "Biodegradable Plastic"? As the plastic waste crisis grows more urgent, a range of new technologies has emerged to help address it, and biodegradable plastic technology is one of them.
Biodegradable plastic is essentially conventional plastic with an additive introduced during manufacturing, typically at a dosage of 1% to 5% depending on the intended application. This additive works by shortening the plastic's carbon chains, allowing it to be consumed by microbes more quickly and broken down into biomass, H₂O, and CO₂.
How Does It Break Down?
The degradation process of biodegradable plastic is evaluated using the American testing standard ASTM D6954, which defines three stages:
- Oxidation Stage: UV exposure, heat, and other environmental conditions degrade the plastic, marked by a reduction in molecular weight.
- Biodegradation Stage: This produces low-molecular-weight microparticles — not microplastics — which are then consumed by microbes and broken down into biomass, H₂O, and CO₂.
- Ecotoxicity Testing: The resulting biomass residue is tested by feeding it to earthworms, using it in seedling propagation and tree planting, and introducing it into water — all to confirm that it has no negative impact on the surrounding ecosystem.
Biodegradable plastic is already widely used, not only in Indonesia but in many other countries, particularly those with hot climates, such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Sources
www.biodeg.org · www.obpf.org · Rethinking the Future of Plastics