Biodegradable agricultural mulches

In what may become a major market for ultrafine ground calcium carbonate, work has been done in Germany on filled HDPE plastic paper. Notched Izod impact resistance with 40% imtreated filler was better than stearate coated filler at the 30 to 40% level, while the Unnotched Izod was slightly lower than the unfilled. The Germans have also developed a biodegradable agricultural mulch, using calcium carbonate filled HDPE. 

Agricultural mulching film is one of the typical applications for biodegradable plastics. Currently, Bionolle mulching film is commonly used in Japan, and is an important market for us. However, some farmers are anxious about the effects of repeated use of biodegradable plastic on the farm. We, as a manufacturer of Bionolle, need to accumulate knowledge on such usage in the farm. 

All components used in preparation of cast films were non-toxic and either natural renewable or biodegradable synthetic polymers. Fmthermore, all ingredients are environmentally compatible and can be utilized for application as agriculture mulch. The presence of natural fillers will help maintain organic matter in the soil and urea would act as an additional source of fertilizer nitrogen. 

Starches are modified chemically in various ways. Some acetate and phosphate esters are produced commercially, as well as hydroxyalkyl and tertiary aminoalkyl ethers. Both unmodified and modified starches are used principally in paper making, paper coating, paper adhesives, textile sizes, and as food thickeners. There are many reports in the literature on graft copolymers of starch. The work is often conducted is search of biodegradable materials for packaging and agricultural mulches. Most chemical modifications of starch parallel those of cellulose. 

Our work provides a simple and cheap way to prepare fully biodegradable modified starch/cellulose filler films, which may have apphcations for packaging, or agricultural mulching purposes. 

Ecoflex is an aromatic-aliphatic copolyester that is produced from petroleum-based products, for example, terephthalic acid, adipic acid, and 1,4-butanediol. The compostable plastic is an excellent biodegradable material for blown film and sheet products, for example, grocery bags, lawn and leaf bags, agricultural mulch films. 

UNI 11495, Agricultural and Horticultural Thermoplastic Biodegradable Materials - Mulching Films - Requirements and Test Methods, Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione, Italy, 2013. 

For these reasons, the substitution of mulch film made of traditional plastics with biodegradable mulches having an outdoor service life which matches the crop duration and which would later be incorporated by the agricultural system appears a very attractive solution [111]. After the end of the growing season, the mulch material would be ploughed into the soil where soil microorganisms should completely biodegrade the mulch into CO2 and water within a reasonable period of time. 

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