Degradable plastic Biodegradable polymers

The ""guide to vocabulary in the domain of degradable and biodegradable polymers and plastics. CEN/TR 15351 2006" proposes the following definitions ... 

CEN/TR 15351-2005, Plastics-Guide for Vocabulary in the Field of Degradable and Biodegradable Polymers and Plastic Items... 

Degradable polymers have been advocated as an alternative to conventional oil-based plastics, and their production has increased considerably in recent decades. Before concluding our discussion of solutions to the problem of plastics waste and pollution, a brief consideration of the applications and limitations of these novel materials is worthwhile. Biopolymers - degradable and biodegradable polymers with comparable functionality to conventional plastics - can now be produced on an industrial scale however, they are more... 

For more than 20 years, polymer scientists and plastics technologists have been working to develop plastics materials that would be more acceptable environmentally, and in the third edition of this book, published in 1975, the author devoted a section to photo- and biodegradation of polymers. In spite of such effort, an article in 1992 stated that Degradable plastics are still in the early... 

The ability of a degradable plastic to decay depends on the structure of its polymer chain. Biodegradable plastics are often manufactured from natural polymers, such as cornstarch and wheat gluten. Micro-organisms in the soil can break down these natural polymers. Ideally, a biodegradable plastic would break down completely into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass within six months, just like a natural material. 

Polymer blends, particularly olefins with biodegradable polymers, are gaining popularity as an approach to degradable packaging plastics. The materials are at best only partially biodegraded, but will lose form and bulk as the plastic disintegrates. This may be sufficient in landfill as volume diminishes, leaving room... 

A frequently cited merit of biodegradable plastics is their lack of persistance in an intact state "environmentally friendly" is a widely used vernacular phrase, but there has also been speculation in the popular press that degradable plastics will release potentially harmful additives into the environment when the plastics degrade or disintegrate. An ideal biodegradable plastic will leave no undegraded polymeric residues, and for these materials, the persistance of additives as well as the polymers must be considered. In this case, the issue is not whether or not the additive... 

Boesel, L. F., Mano, J. F., Elvira, C., San Roman, J., Reis, R. L. (2003). Hydrogels and hydrophilic partially degradable bone cements based on biodegradable blends incorporating starch. In E. Chiellini (Ed.), Biodegradable Polymers and Plastics. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht. 

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