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2008-07-14 Biodegradable cups at Chubby's Tacos.jpg

Compostable plastic is made from organic materials such as cornstarch and can be composted with no harmful impact to the soil or wider environment.[verification needed]

By breaking down, it:

Biodegradable versus compostable

Some plastics may biodegrade to small fragments of petrochemical-based plastic, reducing but not eliminating their negative impact on the environment.[verification needed]

True compostable materials break down completely into the kinds of materials typically found in compost.

Standards

ASTM International,W an international standards organization, defines testing methods for biodegradable plastic, in anaerobic and aerobic conditions and marine environments..[1] There are three ASTM standard specifications addressing biodegradable plastics in composting environments:

  • ASTM D6400-04 Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics,[2]
  • ASTM D6868 - 03 Standard Specification for Biodegradable Plastics Used as Coatings on Paper and Other Compostable Substrates,[3]
  • ASTM D7081 - 05 Standard Specification for Non-Floating Biodegradable Plastics in the Marine Environment.[4]

Notes and references

See also

External links

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Keywords composting, plastic
SDG SDG12 Responsible consumption and production
Authors Chris Watkins
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Translations Korean
Related 1 subpages, 4 pages link here
Impact 272 page views (more)
Created March 30, 2011 by Chris Watkins
Last modified October 23, 2023 by Maintenance script
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