Standard Methods for Testing the Aerobic Biodegradation of Polymeric Materials. Review and Perspectives

There is an on-going worldwide research effort to develop biodegradable polymers for packaging from renewable sources. This development has caused a need to evaluate the biodegradation of these polymers in different environments, e.g. dumping in marine, freshwater, compost or landfill sites. Therefore, many organizations such as ASTM, OECD, the European Committee of Normalization, the Japan Biodegradable Plastics Society, etc., have developed accelerated laboratory test procedures for evaluating potentially biodegradable materials. This report gives an overview of the standardization activities for biodegradability assessment of polymers and a comparison of the methods used for biodegradability tests on solid polymers and packaging materials.

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