Summary session 5

 

Monday 19 June from 13:30-15:00 CET
Each presentation 30 Min + 15 Min discussion
Title: Useful applications of biodegradable plastics
Moderation: Pauline Ruiz (nova-Institute)

 

Developing end of life options for plastics in agri- and horticulture by Karin Molenveld (WUR)
When designing products that need to fully biodegrade at end of life the main challenge is to combine reliable functionality during the service time of the product with rapid biodegradation at end of life. The starting point is the need for a manmade product that does not accumulate (but will biodegrade) in a specific environment, and this can be challenging for products that need to biodegrade in the open environment (soil, marine). Polymer, material and product development need to be combined with biodegradability studies both at lab-scale but also in field tests to prove biodegradation in the actual environment. In this webinar we will present practical examples of developed products and their biodegradation behaviour with a specific focus on technical aspects. 

 

For Which End-products Is Biodegradation a Justified Need? Results and Impacts of the German BioSinn Project by Pauline Ruiz and Michael Carus (nova-Institute)
The BioSinn project found products and applications for which biodegradation at the end of life is a real option. 25 fact sheets answer technical and regulatory questions for each application. The market volume of these applications was also estimated: in the European Union about 1 million tonnes per year! In the EU, several million tonnes of plastics end up in the environment. In nature, in water, in the compost stream – every year, unhindered. Once landed there, it is often almost impossible to return them to the recycling stream: too small, untraceable, too costly. But there are plastic products that, even when used correctly, don’t even make it into the recycling stream and end up in nature, in water or in the compost.
And we deal with many of them every day. Think of cosmetics, tea bags, chewing gum or stickers on fruit and vegetables.