For a number a number of reasons, billions of plastic containers find their way to landfill sites every year rather than being recycled for re-use.
Our packaging made out of BDP-PP and BDP-PET provides end-of- life solution to these discarded containers, enabling them to naturally decompose in a few years rather than centuries.
BDP-PP and BDP-PET are recyclable AND biodegradable*.
Biodegration rates are measured according to the ASTM D5511 test method for determining anaerobic biodegration of plastics under water high solids anaerobic digestion conditions. Tests are generally conducted using 50% solids content. Solids content in naturally wetter landfills range from 55% to 65%, while the driest landfills may reach 93%. Actuall biodegration rates will vary in biology-active landfills according to the type of plastic used, the product configuration, and the solid content, temperature and moisture levels of the landfill.
When talking about biodegradable plastics, it is very important to understand the definition of the biodegradation process. This term has been grossly misused and misunderstood. By definition, plastics that fragment or degrade through chemical reactions, ultraviolet radiation and / or mechanical processes are not biodegradable. They are simply degradable and in most cases you get as a result, toxins, heavy metals like cadmium, nickel and cobalt, and residues of the polymer in the environment.
Plastics are hydrocarbons that come from crude oil, an organic compound which is natural and also 100% biodegradable thanks to oleo-physeal bacteria. However in the process of distillation of these, at high temperatures, the original organic nutrients are burned. In addition manufactured plastic products have been designed to be durable and in the case of packaging products, protect the items contained within. That is why traditional plastics take thousands of years for the microbes to decompose them into biogas and biomass.
Many of the advantages of plastic products become a disadvantage at the time we discard them. Although these plastics could be reused or recycled, a great majority of the time they are disposed of or discarded into the trash where they end up in landfill. Approximately 79% of all plastic every created ended up in landfills. Recycling is a challenge economically as well as physically. Plastic is mostly recycled one time and then down cycled into fabric or lumber where it is no longer recyclable. This is the major reason why most plastic ends up in landfill, even recycled plastics.
*Time requirement in which materials are disposed and the the type, quantity, and quality of micro-organisms present. We tested PP packaging via ASTM D5511 and saw 8.88% biodegradation after 30 days. PET saw a biodegration of 11.68% after 30 days respectively.
