1) PLA is not biodegradable, it is degradable.
2)Enzymes which hydrolyze PLA are not available in the environment except on very rare occasions.
3) Proteinase K catalyze the hydrolytic degradation of PLA

Williams in 1981 and Tsuji and Miyauchi in 2001 had the same question ” is PLA is biodegradable” . They have written white papers around the subject and are featured in the book Biomaterials Science: An Introduction to Materials in Medicine. In the book and discussed at the conference of the European Society for Biomaterials PLA is controlled by hydrolysis and the hydrolysis is independent of all biological agents.

So while many people believe PLA to be biodegradable, it simply is not, PLA is degradable and should be considered as such, in the Biomaterials Science book, they actually go on to say that the situation where Proteinase K hydrolyze PLA is so rare it is not worth discussing further.

We hope this answers the question on if PLA is biodegradable and we continue to work for the best solution for your green plastic and biodegradable needs here at BioSphere.

For more information regarding the documents listed in this article please visit.

References:
Hideto Tsuji * and Shinya Miyauchi
Department of Ecological Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Tempaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi 441-8580, Japan
Biomacromolecules, 2001, 2 (2), pp 597–604
DOI: 10.1021/bm010048k
Publication Date (Web): April 24, 2001
Copyright © 2001 American Chemical Society

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bm010048k?journalCode=bomaf6

Williams 1981
10.1243/EMED_JOUR_1981_010_004_02
Engineering in Medicine January 1981 vol. 10 no. 1 5-7
http://eim.sagepub.com/content/10/1/5.extract

Biomaterials Science: An Introduction to Materials in Medicine 2013
Buddy D. Ratner, Allan S. Hoffman, Frederick J. Schoen, Jack E. Lemons
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780123746269

Update 10/15/2018

As many people have read our website over the past few years we have shown that PLA does not biodegrade very fast or at all in most environments. We would like to share a recent study that was conducted by (Muniyasamy 2011) proving that in soil Polylactic Acid does very little if anything. PLA requires moisture and heat over 140F to begin the self hydrolyzation process reducing the molecular weight of the polymer to lactic acid. Polylactic Acid does not and will not biodegrade without these environments, if you have a home compost pile and it does not reach 140F and lacks water PLA will do nothing. It is important to understand PLA is not a biodegradable material in just any environment, it is a compostable material only in industrial environments and shows very little mineralization(not biodegradation) in the majority of environments. The biodegradation of PLA is reliant on Proteinase K as shown in our earlier post.

It is important for government bodies worldwide that are considering using PLA to understand that, unless you have a controlled industrial compost facility this polymer will do very little if anything. You will have the same or similar problems of regular plastics except you are now using feed-stock to produce disposable items. According to Sudhakar Muniyasamy PLA virgin undergoes very little to no biodegradation of PLA virgin resin. PLA requires a lower crystalline material and by adding a blend of material for it to somewhat mineralize(not biodegrade) in soil environments. Moreover, this study shows limited results even at elevated temperatures of 20-30% mineralization of the material mixed with various other biopolymers. This proves what we have stated for years at BioSphere Plastic, Polylactic Acid does not biodegrade in a normal environment, it therefore should not be considered a biodegradable material as it is limited in what it can achieve and in what environments. Contact BioSphere Plastic LLC for further information on how to make your plastic biodegrade in all disposal methods.

You can view the soil degradation/mineralization of polylactic acid and blended polylactic acid below:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304615824_Mineralization_of_Poly_lactic_acidPLA_Poly_3-hydroxybutyrate-co-valeratePHBV_and_PLAPHBV_Blend_in_Compost_and_Soil_Environments

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The gluttonous bacteria which is being study by the Institute can degrade plastic within a few days.

Dean of school of environment at CUG, M F Fulekar, who led the research said, “My team found eight different potent bacteria that not only decomposed plastic collected from Pirana, but also hazardous, e-waste and metal waste dumped there. The effective decomposition period under lab condition was 30 days.”

“The bacterial cultures were developed separately and then added to the waste mixture at three different temperature stages. The first was at 25 degree Celsius, the second culture was added at 40 degree Celsius and the third bacteria culture was added between temperatures of 45 to 60 degrees. We are confident that these bacteria will work on the landfill site,” he said.

The team of researchers under Devjani Banerjee at ARIBAS identified one bacteria belonging to the family of Micrococcaceae gram positive bacteria and two bacteria belonging to the Enterobacterceae family that decomposed three different types of plastics — low density polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride powder.

If you are interested in reading the full article please visit : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Plastic-breaking-bacteria-need-field-test/articleshow/26118361.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/Plastic-eating-bugs-may-tackle-waste-crisis/articleshow/26118554.cms?

This article further proves that microorganisms consume plastic with or without the additive manufactured by BioSphere. BioSphere’s unique design allows for faster biodegradation of the plastic products when they are treated with the additive. BioSphere continues to research numerous microbial families to further develop their additive attracting various families of microorganisms to the plastic while in active microbial environments. The research which has been conducted by the BioSphere team has conistently shown our additive to be the fastest biodegradable additive in the market today.

The post A&R Patel Institute of Biotechnology prove microbes consume plastic appeared first on BioSphere Plastic.

Typical landfill moisture and solids content range from site to site within a landfill as seen by studies performed by (Mehta, et al. 2002) in the State of California. The ranges varied between 38.8% moisture content to 31.7% moisture content. Other studies have been tested before and after circulation to be 31.3% before and 45.7% moisture content after circulation (Townsend, et al 1996) the samples varied depending on the distance that the samples were taken from the pond.

Bioreactor landfills are operated at a minimum of 40% moisture content or the Bioreactor landfill will no longer be considered a Bioreactor landfill. Increased moisture is necessary, but not required.

What this means for you

It is important to test either as a simulation of a landfill using the ASTM D5511-12 method with high solids content( Eden Labs ), or testing to the ASTM D5526. The ASTM D5526 testing method has three testing tiers one at 20%, one at 40%, and one at 60% moisture content (80,60,40 Solids content). This gives you a three tier approach on solids content and the varying rate of biodegradation. The ASTM D5526 method is performed under 35C which is extremely low temperatures and is not up to par with many landfills internationally nor landfills found in the United States. The ASTM D5511-12 is performed under 52C +-1C, this is under the Federal limit of operational landfills.

We combine these testing methods and protocols with scientific protocols developed by Eden Research Labs to test for simulated landfill conditions. The ASTM D5511-12 testing method is modified to react as a simulated landfill with various moisture/solid contents. This allows for a wide range of testing that will be applicable for all landfills located in the United States and Internationally. By testing to this protocol, you will have third party scientific evidence that your product will biodegrade in a landfill environment whether it is located in a high moisture or low moisture landfill.

We also test our products based on the EPA 8015, this shows that the products are completely returning to nature and only elements in nature are left behind. This shows that our products truly do enhance the biodegradation of plastic, unlike oxo-degradable plastics which are broken down into small pieces under sunlight.

For more information regarding BioSphere plastic additives please contact us at info@biosphereplastic.com

* http://www.infogeos.com/files/news/document/04-Laurent.pdf

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The press release that was sent out today has sent many in Europe scrambling for alternatives to the Oxo-degradable technologies as previously they believed their products “had no impact to recycling”. Regrind of the material and actually recycling the “degraded” material is quit a different process. The material undergoes degradation if any material has seen sunlight. During this time according to the oxo-degradable material it reduces the material into a polyol, diol or back to a monomer form of the plastic. This reduces the molecular weight of the material and therefore will have a different molecular weight this in turn causes issues with the third process of recycling, which is the flotation tank. The flotation tank separate material at a different level based on density. The density of the oxo-degradable material has undergone some or partial degradation based on thermal reaction with UV light. The UV light will continue to break the polymers down into “flake” which in turn will have a better chance to be consumed by microorganisms due to reduction of the polymer chain to heat and UV light. This in turns creates a separation of density between products that have not been degraded such as materials used in regrind.

Regrinding materials very rarely see the outside world and are contained. Continuous processes are generally the way regrind is used when manufacturing bags as there is continued waste product which is produced. The material which has been grinded by the manufacture is then placed back into the mix and should see little to no degradation by the oxo-degradable products.

The density of the final product made with Oxo-degradable additives in turn have a reduced density in comparison to their counterparts virgin LDPE resins, and therefore “are detrimental on mechanical properties of the recycled material”.

If the oxodegradable products did not have the initial phase of UV degradation based on light and heat, the density of the product would not be changed. This in turn would have no impact on the normal recycling of plastics.

* EuPC (Results of independent tests on the effects of degradable plastics on recycling streams and for separate collection)

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BioSphere is one of the market leaders of enhancing the biodegradation of plastic. The company is continuing to work worldwide with manufacturers, converters and distributors to create sustainable solutions for industry.

Please contact BioSphere plastic for test results of the PET Woven Fibers.

The post 81% Biodegradation of PET Fibers in 6 Months Using BioSphere Additive appeared first on BioSphere Plastic.

BioSphere Plastic has been asked if this is possible. Can plastic biodegrade in a landfill and never emit methane gas?
The simple answer is no. Biodegradation in a landfill occurs on multiple levels both aerobically and anaerobically but the lifespan of a normal product being placed into a landfill will undergo major anaerobic biodegradation.

Aerobic biodegradation is biodegradation that occurs with oxygen and anaerobic biodegradation occurs without oxygen.

Biodegradation in a landfill is anaerobic biodegradation and aerobic with the majority of the lifespan on the anaerobic side. The depth of the product when placed into the landfill determines the rate of aerobic and anaerobic activity. Methane is produced when plastics are being consumed by microorganisms within the anaerobic (little oxygen) and carbon dioxide is produced when there is oxygen present. Oxo-degradables undergo what we call UV degradation which reduces the molecular weight of the product, without UV light this reduction of the polymer chain is insignificant and leads to the product not becoming rapid fast food for microorganisms.

The comparisons of technology between oxodegradable plastic and Biosphere® Plastic:

BioSphere® Plastic is plastic which is designed to hydrolyze by microbial action which is done by enzymes. The enzymes which are produced by microorganisms react organically with the BioSphere additive. This allows hydrolyzing of the polymer chain by reactions which are the same as microbes biodegrading leaves or twigs.

Aerobic biodegradation by microorganisms reacting with the BioSphere® additive in plastic leads to carbon dioxide. Anaerobic biodegradation of plastic utilizing BioSphere® additive leads to methane gas which in 69% of consumer waste within the United States is either captured to make energy or turned into carbon dioxide.

Oxo-degradable technologies break the polymer chain by UV light, light reduces the plastics strength and weakens the polymer bonds. This allows microbes which already consume plastic an easier chance to consume the smaller particles of plastic. The Oxo-degradable technologies can not work in normal disposal methods such as landfills. Landfills do not have access to UV light these technologies are meant for littered products and have no ability for microorganisms to consume the plastic when not exposed to UV light. It is important to understand without light oxodegradable products do not break into smaller pieces easier for microbes to consume, these products essentially do nothing unless exposed to UV light.

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The European Spokesperson commented that the packaging law in Italy was “The proposed Italian scheme was illegal under EU packaging laws“. Agencies like the Italian Bioplastic association are furious over the results as they were trying to push their agenda on the entire European Union. The Eurozone was not having it and Britain did not agree with the proposal of making all bags compostable would actually help the environment. Italian composting association and the Bioplastic association of Italy are claiming that the PLA based products are marine degradable. The Italian Environmental Minster states

“The bags are a serious problem, above all at sea, and it is astounding that Britain, which is serious about the environment and has a seafaring tradition going back centuries, does not want to defend the seas from plastic pollution which suffocates and kills many marine animals,”

The compostable bags do not degrade in the marine environment and this was a move on lobbying organizations to force a major swing in legislation within the European Union. The ripple effect of this ground breaking event leaves acceptance to all technologies within the biodegradable industry including corn based resins, additives and regular synthetic plastic.

According to the European Environmental Ministry all plastics are allowed within Italy and they can only tax regular synthetic plastic as Ireland does. They can’t force companies to use compostable bags, packaging and the like to a standard the EN 13432 which is for composting not marine degradable.

Will the US Government follow the European Union and stop California from enacting the same laws?

* Source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/10083487/Italy-furious-as-British-block-ban-on-plastic-bags.html

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You can view the test results from the below links.

FDA Compliance 177.1630 (PET)

FDA Compliance 177.1520 (Olefins)

The post SGS Tests are Conclusive BioSphere is Food Safe appeared first on BioSphere Plastic.

The EPA has funded the landfill methane outreach program or LMOP project which is sharing with landfill operators and owners the benefits of capturing the methane gas. The outcome of capturing methane gas? Carbon negative, BioSphere Additive allows plastics which utilize the technology to be carbon negative 35% of the time. Once the methane is captured 100% is converted, this allows our company to successfully state.

If your product uses BioSphere Plastic’s biodegradable additive, 35% of the time, your product is carbon negative contributing to a greener world and creating energy from trash.

* Source http://robotsconquerus.blogspot.com/2011/06/is-biodegradability-beneficial.html

The study which was performed by Jim Levis shows that 69% of the time consumers throw trash into landfills, the product is either flared off or captured. This allows consumers and manufacturers know that over 30% of their materials are creating energy for other useful purposes. The energy which is generated by the biodegradable plastic is used by major corporations in the United States. Jim Levis also writes that biodegradable plastic has a negative impact on global warming due to the biodegradability of the plastic once placed into landfills. The landfills which capture the methane gas contribute to lowering the overall global impact of green house gases.

For more information regarding the study which Jim Levis has performed or to visit the EPA LMOP project for methane outreach, please visit the links in the article or the below links made available to our readers.

http://robotsconquerus.blogspot.com/2011/06/is-biodegradability-beneficial.html

LMOP project

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