Norms on Specifications for Degradability

At an early stage, it was widely viewed that the available test procedures were insufficient to normalise (bio)degradability or compostability. In addition, specifications and criteria with specific pass levels and requirements were needed. Obviously, this exercise is even more difficult as results in the failure or acceptance of specific materials. 

In addition, there was a common opinion to include not only degradability criteria but to immediately include criteria related to environmental safety a biodegradable polymer cannot be accepted for degradability when at the same time it is toxic. 

The OECD Guidelines for Testing of Chemicals [2] is the first publication in which specifications for biodegradability were mentioned with requirements for ready and inherent biodegradability. 

For biodegradable polymers (industrial), composting was the first environmental process for which specifications were developed. In the nineties, two parallel developments took place in Europe, resulting in the publication of DIN V 54900 in 1998 and EN 13432 in 2000. In spite of some minor differences, both norms were largely similar. After a few years, the DIN norm was made redundant as several international norms (EN and ISO) dealt with the same issue. In addition, in North America a norm was published in 1999 on specifications for (industrial) compostability ASTM D6400. On a global level, ISO 17088 in the field of plastics was published in 2008, while a similar norm for packaging is close to publication and now available under the form of a Draft International Standard (DIS), ISO DIS 18606. 

For aquatic environments, there has been much less development on standards for specifications for biodegradable polymers. At CEN level a standard was published in 2006, EN 14987, for biodegradation in freshwater, while ASTM produced a standard for the marine environment ASTM D7081-05. 

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