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Behaviour of biodegradable plastics in composting facilities
I Körner1, K Redemann, R Stegmann
1Arbeitsbereich für Abfallwirtschaft, Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Hamburg, Germany. i.koerner@tu-harburg.de
Waste Management (New York, N.Y.)
|May 5, 2005
Summary
Composting biodegradable plastics (BDPs) with household waste raises concerns for facility operators. Most facilities would not compost BDPs under current conditions, favoring source-separated BDPs for effective treatment.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Waste Management
- Polymer Science
Background:
- Composting is a preferred method for treating biodegradable plastics (BDPs).
- Combining BDPs with organic household waste for composting is under discussion.
- Understanding BDP behavior in composting facilities is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility and challenges of composting biodegradable plastics (BDPs) with organic household waste.
- To gather composting facility operators' experiences and concerns regarding BDPs.
- To evaluate current impurity separation methods and their effectiveness for BDPs.
Main Methods:
- A telephone survey was conducted with composting facility operators.
- Interviews focused on treated waste, impurity content, separation processes, and BDP experiences.
- Operators' assumptions about BDP behavior in their facilities were recorded.
Main Results:
- 40% of facilities had prior experience with BDPs through test runs or known occurrences.
- Most operators feared increased impurities from combined biowaste and BDP collection.
- Current separation methods (sieving, manual sorting) are not optimized for BDPs; many operators could not separate them.
Conclusions:
- Over half of BDPs would not be composted in existing facilities.
- Combined collection of biowaste and BDPs is problematic due to impurity concerns.
- BDP application is currently only viable for source-separated, clean fractions.