Evaluating properties of composts containing biodegradable and compostable materials

CHED 1118

Deepika Nayyar, dnayyar@mail.csuchico.edu1, Joseph Greene, jpgreene@csuchico.edu2, and Randy M. Miller, rmmiller@csuchico.edu1. (1) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Chico, 400 West 1st St., Chico, CA 95929-0210, (2) Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronic Engineering and Manufacturing Technology, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929
Plastic pollution constitutes a serious threat to the environment. To reduce the plastic waste many companies have developed biodegradable and compostable plastics. For a product to be marked as compostable it should pass the following three criteria: during composting, the plastic product should disintegrate and lose more than 90% of its original dry weight after 12 weeks with 60% or more of the organic carbon converted into carbon dioxide; after decomposition, the regulated metal concentration in the compost should not exceed the ASTM standards; and the compost should be able to support plant life. In this project, we considered only the last two criteria. Compost from small scale laboratory experiments and large scale university and municipal sites were evaluated for the presence of regulated metals and their phytotoxicity. The compost contained consumer products made from a variety of biodegradable materials such as polylactic acid, corn starch, and sugarcane.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Environmental Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, March 26, 2007 Hyatt Regency Chicago -- Riverside Center, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 233rd ACS National Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 25-29, 2007