Faster than fruit: Compostable bioplastics disintegrate in less than 22 days, study finds

25 Feb 2020 --- Compostable packaging products certified standard EN 13432 can disintegrate within a maximum of 22 days together with biowaste (GFT) in a full-scale industrial organic waste treatment facility, found a recent study. That is even faster than orange skins and banana peels. The Wageningen University & Research (WUR), the Netherlands, research set out to determine if compostable packaging products actually compost in organic waste treatment processes or if they end up as contaminating residue waste. In light of the upcoming European Green Deal, the study provides additional evidence in favor of bioplastics packaging within the organic recycling scheme.

“The study findings cannot be overstated. It is an important boost for bioplastics packaging at a crucial time where the circularity of packaging is often reduced to mere mechanical recyclability. Biodegradable and compostable products enable the packaging industry to do its bit in the sector of organic recycling,” Oliver Buchholz, Communications Manager at European Bioplastics, tells PackagingInsights.

The research used manual and Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR)-assisted sorting to analyze the composition of current contamination of conventional plastics in both GFT and compost in terms of polymer and packaging type. Approximately 20 percent of the processed GFT that was unloaded after a waste treatment cycle of 11 days passed the sieves <10 mm. Another 10 percent arrived in the >40 mm fraction. This is usually also recirculated, but discarded when too much pollution accumulates, in practice a few times per month.

The VA and HB have joined forces to provide clarity to the compostable waste debate.The largest amount of the processed GFT – approximately 70 percent – wound up up in the 10-40 mm fraction, which is recirculated in the waste treatment process during normal operation. In total, it contained about 1 percent of plastics by weight.

Notably, an 11-day waste treatment cycle was not sufficient for most selected products to completely disintegrate, including the orange peel and banana skin as reference materials. However, the full PLA plant pot completely disintegrated within this time frame, which is significantly faster than paper and most organic matter. This is more attributed to the fact that the pot is made of bioplastics than due to the pot material’s thickness, the study states.

Moreover, the researchers assess that teabags made with PLA filter, tag and thread can be sufficiently disintegrated within the process and do not significantly contribute to an increase in residue to be discarded, nor in visual contamination of the compost.

“In an increasingly environmentally conscious environment, the global market for bioplastics is predicted to grow by more than 15 percent over the next five years,” Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director for EUBP, also tells PackagingInsights. Regardless of the steady demand for sustainable products by both consumers and brands alike, the EU appears unwilling to grant bioplastics an equal platform to conventional plastics. Consequently, bioplastic-favorable EU legislation still seems to be far off, von Pogroll highlights.

Indeed, the WUR study also acknowledged that the small amount of PLA found in the GFT in a consequence of its very low market share and that consumers are often instructed to dispose of compostable packaging with residual or PMD waste.

To help inform consumers of what types of plastic waste can be successfully disposed, Buchholz advocates for more detailed on-pack labeling. “The logo on the packaging should clearly state whether the packaging is certified to be industrially or home compostable. Further information as to how to exactly dispose of the compostable packaging would be beneficial,” he states.

Compostable paper/PLA tea bags – before and after 22 days of composting in an industrial composting facility.One recent example of this is Monta’s Biopack newly gained TÜV OK Compost Industrial label. Under industrial composting conditions, this sustainable adhesive tape biodegrades within a few months, creating a “natural recycling loop.”

Future potential in European Green Deal
To provide clarity to the ongoing debate of disintegration success of compostable products in GFT and compost, Dutch (organic) waste treatment organization Vereniging Afvalbedrijven (VA) and bioplastics advocating group Holland Bioplastics (HB) joined forces to help define the research parameters and set up the project.

“It is crucial that both the bioplastics and the waste management industries continue working together in order to implement the study results by acknowledging the role of compostable packaging in bio-waste processing,” says Buchholz.

Indeed, the EUBP welcomes the two industries’ cooperation as exemplary for the EU’s Green Deal mission of becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. “We need more research of this kind. In view of the upcoming development of the framework for biodegradable plastics included in the European Green Deal, I ask the European Commission to take these research results into account and to also support more similar research projects,” concludes Chairman of EUBP François de Bie.

By Anni Schleicher

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