Biodegradation and biodegradable materials
Start
Where & Why Biodegradable Polymers Can Be Useful?
Intentional Use: Plastic is intentionaly placed in the environment as part of its function, and recollection is not foreseen, not feasible or impossible (e.g. agricultural films, geotextiles, or signal flares).
Categories from SAPEA 2020 Report
High risk of loss applications: Products that are not meant to remain in nature but are frequently lost during use. In aquatic environments, e.g. fishing gear such as nets, lines, traps, and buoys. On land, e.g. agricultural and forestry aids, or items used in sports such as artificial turf, soft baits, and shotgun cartridges.
REBIOLUTION project acts in line with, the European Commission’s policy framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics, addressing the use of biodegradable materials primarily in cases where they demonstrably contribute to reducing persistent plastic accumulation in the environment.
For applications with the risk of accumulating in the environment, replacing conventional plastics with biodegradable materials can contribute to reducing pollution of persistent plastic, alongside other measures within the waste hierarchy. Structuring to 4 categories where this makes most sense is helpful for orientation (in line with the SAPEA 2020 report on Biodegradability of Plastics, and HYDRA 2025, 4 Categories of Plastic Input to the Environment):
Abrasion: Plastic enters the environment as small particles released through wear and tear during normal use, including sources like tires, textiles, paints, household items, but also during industrial processes.
Littering: Plastic waste that escapes or is improperly managed in waste systems, ranging from individual littering to systemic failures where waste is not collected and directly enters the environment.
Definitions, Principles
+info
Intrinsically Biodegradable
Environmental Biodegradable
+info
Biodegradation
+info
+info
Compostable
+info
Biodegradable Materials
Framework Conditions: Environmental and Material-Specific
+info
Environmental Conditions Influencing Biodegradation
Material-Specific Conditions
The biodegradation of materials is strongly influenced by their chemical composition, molecular structure, and physical form. Polymers with complex, more stable structures tend to degrade more slowly, whereas simpler are generally more readily broken down by microorganisms.
Biodegradation is a complex process governed not only by the properties of the material but also by the surrounding environmental conditions. Although biodegradable polymers are designed to be brocken down through microbial activity, their rate and extent of degradation can vary greatly depending on factors such as temperature, oxygen availability, moisture, and the presence of active microbial communities.
How to Prove Environmental Biodegradability?
Biodegradability is typically assessed using controlled and optimised laboratory screening tests, which are designed to provide reliable, reproducible, and comparable results under well-defined conditions. In these tests, materials are exposed to selected microorganisms in corresponding environments (e.g. soil or sediments) where key parameters, such as temperature, oxygen concentration, moisture, and microbial activity, are carefully regulated to promote biodegradation.
As highlighted in Chapter 4 of the SAPEA Evidence Review Report, such lab-based tests are essential for screening and comparing materials, proofing biodegradability, but they represent simplified systems that may not fully reflect real case scenarios. Therefore, these optimised tests should be complemented by further testing demonstrators or products as well, and if needed under further various, but selected, environmental conditions.
The biodegradation process is then monitored by measuring over time e.g. carbon dioxide evolution (mineralisation), oxygen demand, or the conversion into biomass resp. residuals. This are considered as direct measures (SAPEA 2020, Chapter 4).
How to Assess Biodegradation Time: How Long Does It Take?
Assessing how long it takes until a product is biodegraded, is of measuring the rate of biodegradation and time until full biodegradation under defined conditions. In controlled laboratory screening tests, this is typically done by tracking mineralisation (e.g. carbon dioxide evolution) and determining how long a material takes to reach a specified level of conversion. For optimisation and reproducibility, these tests are usually performed on milled materials (e.g. powders) to maximise surface area and ensure consistent conditions. As highlighted in Chapter 4 of the SAPEA Evidence Review Report, such lab results cannot be directly translated into real-world biodegradation times or rates. To bridge this gap, biodegradation can also be studied in semi-controlled systems, such as mesocosms or tanks, where environmental conditions are more realistic but still partially regulated. In these setups, as well as in full field tests, it is possible to expose actual products or demonstrators, providing more representative insights into how materials behave in real applications.
Standards vs. Research Approach
- Biodegradability tests = screening tests: Standardised test methods, such as those developed by the International Organization for Standardization (e.g. ISO 19679), define controlled testing conditions to ensure reproducibility and comparability. As highlighted in the SAPEA Evidence Review (Chapter 4), these tests are typically conducted under optimised conditions, including controlled temperature, moisture, oxygen levels, and active microbial inocula, to maximise biodegradation and enable reliable screening and proving biodegradability.
- Biodegradation time tests = simulation tests: Tests in this category aim to assess biodegradation of realistic scenarios, testing demonstrators or products under environmentally relevant conditions. However, as noted by SAPEA, these approaches often involve greater variability and lack harmonised criteria or clear pass/fail thresholds, making it more challenging to compare results and define consistent biodegradation timeframes across different environments.
Standards
Standards vs. Research Approach
To address these challenges, the ReBIOlution project complements standardised testing with a research-oriented approach that better reflects real-world complexity. It explicitly considers environmental variability, investigating how factors such as temperature fluctuations, and different soil or sediment types influence biodegradation behaviour.In addition, the project examines the role of material composition, including how formulations, additives, or blends of the newly developed biodegradable polyesters affect biodegradation rates.
By combining controlled testing with these research-driven insights, ReBIOlution aims to achieve a more realistic and comprehensive understanding of material performance across different environments and will use the new knowledge for supporting policy.
Research-Oriented Approach
Biodegradation & Policy
Unmanaged environments: Soil, Freshwater, Marine
Managed Evironments: Compost, Anaerobic Digestion
Conclusions on Biodegradable Polymers and Biodegradation
Biodegradable polymers can offer targeted solutions to reduce pollution of persistent plastic, particularly in applications with a high risk of loss to the environmental, abrasion, and indented input. However, intrinsic biodegradability is not an inherent guarantee of environmental biodegradability, it depends strongly on external conditions such as temperature, moisture, oxygen concentration, and microbial activity, making appropriate use and end-of-life management essential. Standardised testing methods, such as those developed by the International Organization for Standardization (e.g. ISO 19679), provide a basis for comparable and reproducible assessment, while a research-oriented approach helps answer open questions such as how to handle variability of biodegradation rates in unmanaged environments such as soil, freshwater and marine. New knowledge will then support further development of new standards or adaptation of existing ones as well as support policy activites. Overall, a holistic approach, as done in REBIOLUTION project, integrating material design, standardised testing, realistic environmental and research-oriented assessments, and supporting policy, is essential to fully realise the potential of biodegradable polymers providing new safe & sustainable by design materials and products.
Curious about the REBIOLUTION project?
The project aims to develop polyesters that enhance sustainability by reducing use of non-renewable resources, using non-toxic substances, and enabling both recyclability and biodegradability. It ensures that the new materials can biodegrade under relevant conditions, including composting as well as in soil, freshwater, and marine environments. At the same time, ReBIOlution seeks for safe processability, and material functionality by applying Safe & Sustainable by Design approach.
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Follow us!
Unmanaged environments are in this context terrestrial (soil), and aquatic (freshwater and marine) environments.Environmental conditions are not controlled, and so varying temperature, moisture, oxygen concentrations, and microbial activity result in a range of biodegradation rates and times of biodegradable materials.
Nevertheless, if the material is biodegradable, and environmental conditions allow biodegradation the process will continue.
EU policies provide a regulatory framework for few specific biodegradable products (e.g. fertilizer coating, mulch film), however, important questions remain within the EU policy framework regarding how biodegradable products should be consistently defined, assessed, and regulated, particularly in relation to their actual performance in diverse natural environments
Intrinsically Biodegradable
The term intrinsically biodegradable refers to materials whose chemical structure enables them to be broken down by microorganisms into carbon dioxide, water, and new microbial biomass, without requiring specific additives or external triggers.
This I the basis for the concept reflected in scientific and policy discussions (e.g. SAPEA, 2020), which emphasise that intrinsic biodegradability should arise from the structural design of the material and environmental biodegradability must be demonstrated under relevant environmental conditions.
Managed environments are in this context industrial composts and Anaerobic Digestors. They are systems which are highly controlled environments where factors such as temperature, moisture, oxygen, and microbial activity are carefully maintained to optimise biodegradation. As such, they represent a waste management option for biodegradable materials, ensuring reliable treatment under controlled conditions.
Anaerobic Digestion (AD)
The EU has set standards for industrial and home composting environments for biodegradable materials.
Composting
Biodegradable Materials
Biodegradable materials are materials that can be broken down by microorganisms into natural substances such as carbon dioxide, water, new microbial biomass, and, under anaerobic conditions, methane. Their biodegradation depends not only on the material’s chemical structure but also on environmental factors such as temperature, oxygen availability, and microbial activity.
As highlighted by SAPEA, biodegradable should always be specified in relation to a defined environment and timeframe.
Environmental Biodegradable
Environmentally biodegradable refers to materials that can be biodegraded in the natural environment (such as soil, freshwater, or marine systems), where microorganisms convert them into natural substances like carbon dioxide, water, and new microbial biomass under the actual conditions present in that environment.
This definition aligns with assessments such as those by SAPEA (2020) and subsequent policy framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics, which stress that claims of biodegradability must always be linked to a clearly defined environment and verified through appropriate testing under those conditions.
Click on the link to know more about it
Compostable
Compostable refers to products that is safely biodegraded in a controlled composting environment, being converted into carbon dioxide, water, and new microbial biomass within a defined timeframe. A key requirement is that the product not only biodegrades but also demonstrates physical disintegration of the final product within a required time frame. According to standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization and certification schemes from certifiers, compostability must be verified through testing and fulfilling criteria that include biodegradation, disintegration, and ecotoxicity under controlled (typically industrial) composting conditions.
Biodegradation
Biodegradation is the process by which organic materials are broken down by microorganisms (such as bacteria and fungi) into carbon dioxide, water, new microbial biomass, and, under anaerobic conditions, methane. It is a biological process driven by enzymatic activity, in which the material serves as a carbon source for microbial metabolism.
According to scientific evidence reports like SAPEA (2020), biodegradation must be evaluated under defined conditions and over a specified timeframe, as its rate and extent depend on environmental factors such as temperature, oxygen availability, and microbial communities.
Environmental Conditions Influencing Biodegradation
- Water Availability: Moisture is a key factor for microbial activity and biodegradation.
- Temperature: Higher temperatures generally speed up biodegradation, while lower temperatures slow it down.
- Microbial Communities: The presence of specific microorganisms capable of breaking down the materials is essential for biodegradation.
- Nutrients: The availability of carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients can influence the rate of biodegradation.
Biodegradation and biodegradable materials
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Transcript
Biodegradation and biodegradable materials
Start
Where & Why Biodegradable Polymers Can Be Useful?
Intentional Use: Plastic is intentionaly placed in the environment as part of its function, and recollection is not foreseen, not feasible or impossible (e.g. agricultural films, geotextiles, or signal flares).
Categories from SAPEA 2020 Report
High risk of loss applications: Products that are not meant to remain in nature but are frequently lost during use. In aquatic environments, e.g. fishing gear such as nets, lines, traps, and buoys. On land, e.g. agricultural and forestry aids, or items used in sports such as artificial turf, soft baits, and shotgun cartridges.
REBIOLUTION project acts in line with, the European Commission’s policy framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics, addressing the use of biodegradable materials primarily in cases where they demonstrably contribute to reducing persistent plastic accumulation in the environment. For applications with the risk of accumulating in the environment, replacing conventional plastics with biodegradable materials can contribute to reducing pollution of persistent plastic, alongside other measures within the waste hierarchy. Structuring to 4 categories where this makes most sense is helpful for orientation (in line with the SAPEA 2020 report on Biodegradability of Plastics, and HYDRA 2025, 4 Categories of Plastic Input to the Environment):
Abrasion: Plastic enters the environment as small particles released through wear and tear during normal use, including sources like tires, textiles, paints, household items, but also during industrial processes.
Littering: Plastic waste that escapes or is improperly managed in waste systems, ranging from individual littering to systemic failures where waste is not collected and directly enters the environment.
Definitions, Principles
+info
Intrinsically Biodegradable
Environmental Biodegradable
+info
Biodegradation
+info
+info
Compostable
+info
Biodegradable Materials
Framework Conditions: Environmental and Material-Specific
+info
Environmental Conditions Influencing Biodegradation
Material-Specific Conditions
The biodegradation of materials is strongly influenced by their chemical composition, molecular structure, and physical form. Polymers with complex, more stable structures tend to degrade more slowly, whereas simpler are generally more readily broken down by microorganisms.
Biodegradation is a complex process governed not only by the properties of the material but also by the surrounding environmental conditions. Although biodegradable polymers are designed to be brocken down through microbial activity, their rate and extent of degradation can vary greatly depending on factors such as temperature, oxygen availability, moisture, and the presence of active microbial communities.
How to Prove Environmental Biodegradability?
Biodegradability is typically assessed using controlled and optimised laboratory screening tests, which are designed to provide reliable, reproducible, and comparable results under well-defined conditions. In these tests, materials are exposed to selected microorganisms in corresponding environments (e.g. soil or sediments) where key parameters, such as temperature, oxygen concentration, moisture, and microbial activity, are carefully regulated to promote biodegradation.
As highlighted in Chapter 4 of the SAPEA Evidence Review Report, such lab-based tests are essential for screening and comparing materials, proofing biodegradability, but they represent simplified systems that may not fully reflect real case scenarios. Therefore, these optimised tests should be complemented by further testing demonstrators or products as well, and if needed under further various, but selected, environmental conditions.
The biodegradation process is then monitored by measuring over time e.g. carbon dioxide evolution (mineralisation), oxygen demand, or the conversion into biomass resp. residuals. This are considered as direct measures (SAPEA 2020, Chapter 4).
How to Assess Biodegradation Time: How Long Does It Take?
Assessing how long it takes until a product is biodegraded, is of measuring the rate of biodegradation and time until full biodegradation under defined conditions. In controlled laboratory screening tests, this is typically done by tracking mineralisation (e.g. carbon dioxide evolution) and determining how long a material takes to reach a specified level of conversion. For optimisation and reproducibility, these tests are usually performed on milled materials (e.g. powders) to maximise surface area and ensure consistent conditions. As highlighted in Chapter 4 of the SAPEA Evidence Review Report, such lab results cannot be directly translated into real-world biodegradation times or rates. To bridge this gap, biodegradation can also be studied in semi-controlled systems, such as mesocosms or tanks, where environmental conditions are more realistic but still partially regulated. In these setups, as well as in full field tests, it is possible to expose actual products or demonstrators, providing more representative insights into how materials behave in real applications.
Standards vs. Research Approach
Standards
Standards vs. Research Approach
To address these challenges, the ReBIOlution project complements standardised testing with a research-oriented approach that better reflects real-world complexity. It explicitly considers environmental variability, investigating how factors such as temperature fluctuations, and different soil or sediment types influence biodegradation behaviour.In addition, the project examines the role of material composition, including how formulations, additives, or blends of the newly developed biodegradable polyesters affect biodegradation rates. By combining controlled testing with these research-driven insights, ReBIOlution aims to achieve a more realistic and comprehensive understanding of material performance across different environments and will use the new knowledge for supporting policy.
Research-Oriented Approach
Biodegradation & Policy
Unmanaged environments: Soil, Freshwater, Marine
Managed Evironments: Compost, Anaerobic Digestion
Conclusions on Biodegradable Polymers and Biodegradation
Biodegradable polymers can offer targeted solutions to reduce pollution of persistent plastic, particularly in applications with a high risk of loss to the environmental, abrasion, and indented input. However, intrinsic biodegradability is not an inherent guarantee of environmental biodegradability, it depends strongly on external conditions such as temperature, moisture, oxygen concentration, and microbial activity, making appropriate use and end-of-life management essential. Standardised testing methods, such as those developed by the International Organization for Standardization (e.g. ISO 19679), provide a basis for comparable and reproducible assessment, while a research-oriented approach helps answer open questions such as how to handle variability of biodegradation rates in unmanaged environments such as soil, freshwater and marine. New knowledge will then support further development of new standards or adaptation of existing ones as well as support policy activites. Overall, a holistic approach, as done in REBIOLUTION project, integrating material design, standardised testing, realistic environmental and research-oriented assessments, and supporting policy, is essential to fully realise the potential of biodegradable polymers providing new safe & sustainable by design materials and products.
Curious about the REBIOLUTION project?
The project aims to develop polyesters that enhance sustainability by reducing use of non-renewable resources, using non-toxic substances, and enabling both recyclability and biodegradability. It ensures that the new materials can biodegrade under relevant conditions, including composting as well as in soil, freshwater, and marine environments. At the same time, ReBIOlution seeks for safe processability, and material functionality by applying Safe & Sustainable by Design approach.
+info
Follow us!
Unmanaged environments are in this context terrestrial (soil), and aquatic (freshwater and marine) environments.Environmental conditions are not controlled, and so varying temperature, moisture, oxygen concentrations, and microbial activity result in a range of biodegradation rates and times of biodegradable materials. Nevertheless, if the material is biodegradable, and environmental conditions allow biodegradation the process will continue. EU policies provide a regulatory framework for few specific biodegradable products (e.g. fertilizer coating, mulch film), however, important questions remain within the EU policy framework regarding how biodegradable products should be consistently defined, assessed, and regulated, particularly in relation to their actual performance in diverse natural environments
Intrinsically Biodegradable
The term intrinsically biodegradable refers to materials whose chemical structure enables them to be broken down by microorganisms into carbon dioxide, water, and new microbial biomass, without requiring specific additives or external triggers. This I the basis for the concept reflected in scientific and policy discussions (e.g. SAPEA, 2020), which emphasise that intrinsic biodegradability should arise from the structural design of the material and environmental biodegradability must be demonstrated under relevant environmental conditions.
Managed environments are in this context industrial composts and Anaerobic Digestors. They are systems which are highly controlled environments where factors such as temperature, moisture, oxygen, and microbial activity are carefully maintained to optimise biodegradation. As such, they represent a waste management option for biodegradable materials, ensuring reliable treatment under controlled conditions.
Anaerobic Digestion (AD)
The EU has set standards for industrial and home composting environments for biodegradable materials.
Composting
Biodegradable Materials
Biodegradable materials are materials that can be broken down by microorganisms into natural substances such as carbon dioxide, water, new microbial biomass, and, under anaerobic conditions, methane. Their biodegradation depends not only on the material’s chemical structure but also on environmental factors such as temperature, oxygen availability, and microbial activity. As highlighted by SAPEA, biodegradable should always be specified in relation to a defined environment and timeframe.
Environmental Biodegradable
Environmentally biodegradable refers to materials that can be biodegraded in the natural environment (such as soil, freshwater, or marine systems), where microorganisms convert them into natural substances like carbon dioxide, water, and new microbial biomass under the actual conditions present in that environment. This definition aligns with assessments such as those by SAPEA (2020) and subsequent policy framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics, which stress that claims of biodegradability must always be linked to a clearly defined environment and verified through appropriate testing under those conditions.
Click on the link to know more about it
Compostable
Compostable refers to products that is safely biodegraded in a controlled composting environment, being converted into carbon dioxide, water, and new microbial biomass within a defined timeframe. A key requirement is that the product not only biodegrades but also demonstrates physical disintegration of the final product within a required time frame. According to standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization and certification schemes from certifiers, compostability must be verified through testing and fulfilling criteria that include biodegradation, disintegration, and ecotoxicity under controlled (typically industrial) composting conditions.
Biodegradation
Biodegradation is the process by which organic materials are broken down by microorganisms (such as bacteria and fungi) into carbon dioxide, water, new microbial biomass, and, under anaerobic conditions, methane. It is a biological process driven by enzymatic activity, in which the material serves as a carbon source for microbial metabolism. According to scientific evidence reports like SAPEA (2020), biodegradation must be evaluated under defined conditions and over a specified timeframe, as its rate and extent depend on environmental factors such as temperature, oxygen availability, and microbial communities.
Environmental Conditions Influencing Biodegradation