Standards and Regulations for Testing of Biodegradable Polymers

During the last few years some national and international standards, such as DIN 54900 [1], ASTM D6002 1996 [2] and EN 13432 [3], have been published. The intended goal of them all is to provide producers and users as well as authorities with test schemes and quality criteria (pass levels) for biodegradable materials. The three standards are different in detail but have the same basic four-step test scheme  

Estimation of the possibility of biodegradability based on the chemical composition (polymer structure) and absence of intentionally added components which are known to be or are under suspect of becoming toxic or harmful to the environment (for example heavy metals) 

Determination of the degradability caused by microbial activity and qnantification by either oxygen demand, carbon dioxide release or methane prodnction considering the time needed for full mineralisation 

Determination of the disintegration under real or simulated composting or anaerobic digestion conditions and quantification by gravimetric determination of a sieve residue 

Investigation of the quality of the compost resulting from the material disintegration test hy analysis of chemical and physical parameters and hy determination of ecotoxicological effects to at least higher plants 

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