EP Tech who supply oxo-biodegradable bags into New Zealand have had some exciting developments with their technology in our area.  Their bags have been tested against Internationally accepted ASTM standard D5511 which is a Standard Test Method for Determining Anaerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials Under High-Solids Anaerobic-Digestion Conditions.  The bags were tested over a period of 750 days and the results have shown that the bags can biodegrade in anaerobically simulated landfill conditions.  Dr Swift has written a report on the findings of the testing. 

Dr Swift is an internationally recognized expert in polymer synthesis, applications, biodegradation, polymers from renewable resources and green polymer chemistry. He has served on international plastics associations and standards committees (including ASTM, SPI, and the American Chemical Society), He has extensive experience in establishing standards and testing procedures in the field of plastics.  Dr Swift has more 30 years’ experience in the plastics and polymer industry, working with both ICI in the UK and Rohm and Haas in the USA. He holds over 120 US patents and has authored 150 scientific articles on polymer chemistry (including articles on the environmental impact of these materials).  Eden Labs are a well-known and respected testing facility.

Dr Swift has advised that the preliminary results of testing by Eden Laboratories indicate that oxo-biodegradable (metal pro-degradant activated) polyethylene pre-treated by exposure to atmospheric oxygen is subsequently anaerobically biodegradable under simulated landfill conditions.  At this stage, he predicts that given that the half-life (time for 50% biodegradation) for biodegradation has been shown to be approximately 700 days in test conditions, a predicted lifetime in a landfill environment for oxo biodegradable products is approaching 5 years.

Contact EP Tech for more information.