Biodegradable plastics as per #ISO17088 equivalent to European Union standard , EN13432 and American Standard ASTM 6400 is called Compostable Plastics.
There are two criterion for Compostable plastics
- Presence of Oxygen in the facility or Aerobic biodegradation
- Composting to be done in an Industrial Composting Facility
Industrial Composting facilities are available in a few countries, mainly #Europe. Rest of the world including #USA have very few of these as the waste has to be either circulated or #oxygen pushed in artificially till the depths of the waste ( which is not feasible ).
#Biodegradation in nature occurs in an environment in presence and absence of oxygen, leading to a mix of different microbes in the environment.
There is no bold line in nature, which separates #Aerobic microbes (Oxygen breathing) and #Anaerobic microbes (Without Oxygen), both types of microbes exist and act everywhere, many a times in conjunction or partnership, consuming different types of food from the same molecule.
India like other developing countries has a waste management system of #landfills, where all types of wastes are disposed of, organic (wet), and inorganic (mostly dry). These landfills are anaerobic due to huge amounts of waste and the absence of oxygen. #Methane (Biogas) is released from the anaerobic decomposition of the organic waste in these landfills. Methane is a natural byproduct of organic/vegetable biodegradation and one of the biggest emitters of Methane is Rice Fields.
So expecting Compostable plastics as per IS0 17088 to biodegrade in this environment is a pipe’s dream.
Even corn #starch/#PLA/#PHA plastics touted as ultimate solution to biodegradability will fail to Compost as these are chains of cellulose are biodegraded by mostly aerobic microbes.
Thus #compostable plastics as per ISO 17088 cannot be implemented in India or facilities , which are not #IndustrialComposting
