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Back to DGRADE - Nedbrytning av bionedbrytbar plast i jord og avfallsstrømmer

Nedbrytning i avfallsstrømmer (AP3)

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Bionedbrytbare ølglass laget av polymelkesyre (PLA på engelsk) i ferd med å bli kompostert på SIMAS IKS i Sogn, Vestland. Foto: SIMAS

Published: 22.08.2023

Some biodegradable products, such as waste bags, cutlery and drinking cups, are marked as compostable. How fast do they degrade during composting? Can composting and anaerobic digestion (biogas production, much more common in Norway than composting) be a source of plastics in the environment?

Here are two common logos for compostable plastics:

Compostable logos.png

We have selected several biodegradable plastic products, marked as compostable, and followed their degradation during composting. Composting is an intricate process, as shown on the figure below. It consists in a series of degradation processes occuring in presence of oxygen.

Composting.png

In addition to composting experiments in 135 L compost tumblers at NIBIO, we have conducted large scale experiments at SIMAS, one of the very few composting plants in Norway that receive and compost compostable plastic waste.

3_kompost_Pierre-Adrien Rivier.jpg
PLA beer glasses from ØYA music festival are ready to be composted at SIMAS, Norway. Photo: Pierre-Adrien Rivier, NIBIO
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We followed the fate of PLA glasses in industrial compost over 13 weeks at SIMAS, Norway. Photo: Pierre-Adrien Rivier, NIBIO
PA Erik sampling compost from SIMAS.jpg
How did microbial communities in compost change over time in presence of compostable PLA glasses? First step: taking compost samples regularly over 13 weeks for subsequent DNA extraction. Photo: NIBIO

 

Conclusion: The PLA glasses, ending up where they were meant to end up - in a properly managed industrial composting plant - were degraded within 3 months.

 

We also studied the fate of biodegradable (compostable) plastic bags during anaerobic digestion (biogas production), in a sister project "MOBIPLAST", funded by the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund (Grant 12414). Here we showed the compostable plastic bags used for food waste collection do not degrade much during anaerobic digestion.

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Claire Coutris Jenny Klaus Linn Solli

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Claire Coutris Kathrine Torday Gulden

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Claire Coutris Andreas Brilke Erik J. Joner Pierre-Adrien Rivier

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Claire Coutris Kathrine Torday Gulden

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Erik J. Joner Pierre-Adrien Rivier Claire Coutris

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Claire Coutris Laila Borge Kjersti Veel Kraus

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Andreas Brilke

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Erik J. Joner

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Claire Coutris

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Claire Coutris Kathrine Torday Gulden

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Claire Coutris Kathrine Torday Gulden

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Claire Coutris Kathrine Torday Gulden

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Erik J. Joner

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