German municipal waste management company Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR) and chemical giant, BASF have concluded a pilot project involving the use of organic waste bags made of the biodegradable plastic Ecovio FS.
According to BASF, the material is made of the partially bio-based plastic (polyester) Ecoflex FS and PLA (polylactic acid), which is obtained from corn starch by means of fermentation.
As with the organic waste which they hold, the bags themselves are broken down by microorganisms with the aid of enzymes.
The company said that this degradation process depends only on the structure of the molecules, not on the origin of the raw materials. At the end of the composting process, the microorganisms have completely converted the bags into carbon dioxide, water and biomass.
To trial the product, in September 2011, more than 21,000 households in the Berlin districts of Prenzlauer Berg and Hellersdorf were given a test package with 10 biodegradable bags for organic waste, leading incorrect disposal to fall by 37%.
Additionally, in Hellersdorf 3700 households were given a pre-sorting kitchen container as well as the biodegradable bags, making it easier to collect organic waste.
According to the companies, incorrect disposal, or the number of conventional, non-biodegradable bags that ended up in the organic waste bins, fell by as much as 67% in this trial.
The partners also claimed that the amount of organic waste collected during the project was very encouraging and increased by about 10% in the fourth quarter of 2011. This rise ran counter to the normal seasonal trend: During the same time span, the quantity of organic waste in other districts of Berlin fell by 20%.
Each participating household received the test package with the organic waste bags made of BASF’s biodegradable and compostable plastic Ecovio FS by bulk mail together with information material, free of charge. The residents were asked to use the bags to collect their organic waste in the following three months.
Source: Waste Management World