Biodegradable Plastic Additives
Additives to make plastic biodegradable don t cut it april 16 2015 6 05am edt updated october 7 2016 9 44am edt susan selke rafael auras michigan state university.
Biodegradable plastic additives. Biodegradable plastic additive oxygreen when added in small quantities to the most common and widely used commodity resins during the. Are useful in litter environments where heat light and air can force the plastic to break into diols small pieces below 500 daltons bacteria and fungus produce a saliva like product that can dissolve the diol. Biodegradable plastic enhanced with biosphere plastic s additive is a unique additive package that when placed into polymers rapidly enhances the ability for plastic to biodegrade in anaerobic and aerobic environments. Ecopure biodegradable plastic technology traditional plastic can take thousands of years to biodegrade.
Biodegradable additives attract microorganisms to the polymer through quorum sensing after biofilm creation on the plastic product. Once the biodegradable additives have homogenized with the plastic polymer the additive reacts with the enzymes to reduce the polymer chain. Plastics containing degradable additives. Biodegradable plastics are commonly produced with renewable raw materials micro organisms petrochemicals or combinations of all three.
Plastic when placed into active microbial environments begin to decompose at very slow rates by microorganisms. Biodegradable additives are additives that enhance the biodegradation of polymers by allowing microorganisms to utilize the carbon within the polymer chain as a source of energy. Biodegradable plastic additive. Plastic that is a biodegradable b has biobased content or c is both biodegradable or has biobased content.
While the words bioplastic and biodegradable plastic are similar they are not synonymous. Additives are generally in masterbatch formation that use carrier resins such as. Types of biodegradable plastics additives. Adding just 1 ecopure additive when manufacturing can enhance the biodegradation of plastics in a landfill.
Biodegradable plastics are plastics that can be decomposed by the action of living organisms usually microbes into water carbon dioxide and biomass. Ecm biofilms is leading the sustainability movement within the plastics and landfill gas to energy industries with an additives for manufacturing biodegradable plastics creating an entirely new and greatly desired end of life scenario for plastics and simultaneously opening up exciting new. A plastic that undergoes biodegradation under specified environmental conditions a process in which the degrada.