ASTM Int'l to Develop Standard to Determine Biodegradability of Plastics in Landfill Conditions - ASTM WK18427
April 3, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
| |
| IHS Sells ASTM Documents |
| IHS is a leading provider of online access to large document collections from ASTM. For more information and a price quote, please complete the form below. |
|
| |
A proposed standard being developed by ASTM International Subcommittee D20.96 on Environmentally Degradable Plastics and Biobased Products will aid in the determination of degradation and biodegradation of plastics in landfill environments.
A major application of ASTM WK18427 - Determining the Aerobic Degradation and Anaerobic Biodegration of Plastic Materials Under Accelerated Bioreactor Landfill Conditions will be degradation testing, under landfill simulation, of plastics used in packaging applications and food service that cannot be readily composted at present as no facilities are available.
"These are more than likely to end up in landfill sites where, if not degradable, they will occupy large volumes and exclude other waste," said Graham Swift, a consultant on biodegradable plastics and a D20 member.
"If these plastics are demonstrated to be degradable or biodegradable then the landfill volume reduction problem is reduced."
Determining the degradability/biodegradability of the new sealing technologies that use plastic sheeting to seal daily fills is another potential way that ASTM WK18247 will be used, according to Swift. The use of plastic covers to seal daily fills eliminates the need for several inches of soil coverage on a daily basis, which detracts from landfill coverage.
"Manufacturers of packaging plastics likely to end up in landfill sites are surely to be users of [ASTM] WK18247, either voluntarily or by request from end-users in packaging," said Swift. "Also, the companies developing landfill covers will be obliged to consider the proposed new test method. Finally, landfill operators and owners ought to insist on the use of [ASTM] WK18247 to ensure that plastics do break down in a landfill."
All interested parties are encouraged to participate in the development of ASTM WK18427.
"We are looking for people who are knowledgeable in landfill operations, biological processes that occur in diminishing oxygen environments," said Swift. "The landfill environment changes from aerobic to anaerobic over time and this is not really well characterized or understood."
Source: ASTM International.