Biodegradability standards measure ultimate biodegradation of polymers by exposing the material under test to a natural microbial inoculum. Available tests developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) use inoculums sampled from different environments e.g. soil, marine sediments, seawater. Understanding whether each inoculum is to be considered as microbially unique or not can be relevant for the interpretation of tests results. This review address this question.

DEFRA has published its annual UK waste statistics, always an interesting read to see the trends. Key points? Flatlined recycling at 44 per cent a number that has barely increased since 2010 despite the performance of Wales at 56.7 per cent; an enormous 6.8 million tonnes of biodegradable waste were landfilled in 2021 up 10 per cent in 2020; and packaging waste recycled remains unchanged at 63.2 per cent – including of course packaging exported for ‘recycling’.

Scotland’s Government published its strategy to reduce littering and fly tipping, which you can read here. The timing is ironic given the postponement of Scotland’s DRS programme, halted it would seem by fierce lobbying from the retail and drinks industries as well as issues with the UK Internal Market Act.

Despite the openly hostile views of DEFRA towards compostable materials, Packaging Insights reports a surge in demand and the need for more organic recycling facilities to accept compostables.
The same publication wrote a long and in-depth report into claims around oxodegradability and similar definitions on 19 June, quoting the undersigned in the piece. The report from UCL which was published in May highlights the lack of evidence that any of the additives claiming to ‘biodegrade’ ordinary plastics actually work in reality, especially in cooler and wetter climates. Who would have guessed?

BBIA members Total Corbion published the results of a study undertaken in France which demonstrates how well compostable plastics actually compost and biodegrade in real conditions. Well, this is not a surprise to many of us but the surprise is we still need to show that compostables compost! Spoiler: they do. You can read the preliminary report here.

BBIA members have completed a two-month study into the claims that, in our opinion, are and are not acceptable in the UK marketplace for FMCG packaging related to Bio-based materials. It is the first guideline written by an association for the CMA and its members.
This study, which we have now transmitted to the Competition and Markets Authority, we hope will stimulate that body into taking a more vigorous approach to misleading marketing claims and to take into account the study mentioned by UCL into PAC plastics. The document serves moreover, as a series of guidelines for BBIA members to ensure claims conform with certification and realistic market practices. The report is available on the BBIA reports page.

UCL, the London University specialising in research around compostable and biodegradable plastics, in May published a ground breaking report into the biodegradability of plastics with additives (PAC) in the open environment.

CST spoke with more than 40 experts from academia and industry to understand the opportunities and barriers to building UK capability, with a focus on what is needed to translate research into economic and social impact.

UCL study suggests that plastics containing biodegration accelerators (also known as oxodegradable) do not reliably biodegrade within the time frames of the claims manufacturers make.