Given the current worldwide trend towards environmental sustainability, many industries are turning their attention to biodegradable and compostable plastics. There is a solution to compostable (be composted meaning turn into CO2 and biomass), in addition to disintegration (somewhere that it can be ripped apart physically anymore and also cannot be found within the final compost output), like with, for example: ISO 20200 has offered this by developing an in-labs test approach capable in a thermophilic composting semimacro environment and helps quantify disintegration traits for plastic materials. It is intended as a screening test for use in product development, certification, and research.
ISO 20200 Test Method
| Test procedure | This test simulates the conditions of passive aerobic industrial composting, where a solid waste matrix, composed of an artificial substrate, has been inoculated with mature compost from either a municipal or industrial composting facility. Shredded plastic test pieces are mixed into this compost and left for an aging period of 45 to 90 days at 58ºC. |
