ANALYSIS OF STARCH-POLYESTER SHOPPING BAG BIODEGRADATION IN A COMPOSTING PLANT: COMPARISON BETWEEN PILOT AND INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCES

摘要

For the last fifteen years, bioplastics and biodegradable polymers are an alternative to conventional non biodegradable polymers in the international market. In 2010, 571,712 T of biodegradable polymers were produced and this amount is expected to increase 41.4 % by 2015 according to Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR). The packaging industry is the most important application way of these biodegradable polymers. Regarding the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), it is important to evaluate the impact of these new packaging at the end of their lifetime, when they are converted in waste. In these sense, the present study is developed with the objective of verifying the compostability of this packaging when they are integrated in an industrial composting of Municipal Solid Waste (M.S.W.).