French Government funded study clearly shows, Symphony’s d2w
oxo-biodegradable plastic, will biodegrade in seawater significantly
more efficiently than conventional plastic. (link)
Degradation and toxicity of oxo-degradable plastics at sea
The above project ANR-OXOMAR – is evaluating the biodegradability and toxicity of oxo-biodegradable
plastics at sea
The objective of the project is to assess the fate of oxo-degradable plastics (OXO) in the marine
environment.
Plastics at sea: a societal, economic and political issue Of the 300,000 tonnes of plastic waste
found today on the surface of the oceans, more than half are made of polyethylene.
The degradation of polyethylene (PE) by microorganisms is indeed very slow, and a solution
proposed by manufacturers consists of integrating additives which promote the
oxidation of PE to make it more accessible to biodegradation: oxo-degradable (OXO).
The lack of knowledge about this product has led to recent measures banning their marketing
in Europe.
Our objective is to provide solid scientific data on the fate of OXOs at sea. The basis of the project
is based on 3 axes which are to evaluate
(1) abiotic degradation,
(2) biodegradation and
(3 ) the possible toxicity of OXOs when they are accidentally released into the sea.
The study concluded that oxo-biodegradable plastics biodegrade in seawater and
do so with a significantly higher efficiency than conventional plastics. The oxidation
level obtained due to the d2w catalyst was found to be of crucial importance in the
degradation process
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