THE ROLE OF STANDARDISATION IN THE FIELD OF BIODEGRADABLE MATERIALS Francesco Degli Innocenti Environmental and sustainability Affairs NOVAMONT S.p.A. 2nd Congress on Biodegradable Polymer Packaging Milan (Italy), 10-11 May 2012

1. THE ROLE OF STANDARDISATION IN
THE FIELD OF BIODEGRADABLE
MATERIALS
Francesco Degli Innocenti
Environmental and sustainability Affairs
NOVAMONT S.p.A.
fdi@novamont.com
2nd Congress on Biodegradable Polymer Packaging
Milan (Italy), 10-11 May 2012
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2. Short historical notes
• The first discussion on the criteria for biodegradable
plastics and packaging was developed by the Organic
Reclamation and Composting Association (ORCA)1.
• Similar discussion and test activities were carried out in
the USA, at the ASTM Institute for Standards Research,
within the Degradable Polymers Research Program from
1991 through 19962
• 1. The ORCA’s Guidelines for the evaluation of feedstock for source separated biowaste
composting and biogasification (Lemmes, 1994).
• 2. “ASTM-ISR Degradable Polymeric Materials Program” (ASTM/ISR , 1996).
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3. • The work was then developed and finalised
by ASTM D20.96 and by CEN TC 261 SC4
WG2 (packaging and the Environment)
• More recent is the ISO 17088
Specifications for compostable plastics.
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4. The European legal framework in Europe
in the field of packaging
• Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and
packaging waste
• 20 December 1994
• (Official Journal L 365 , 31/12/1994 p. 0010 – 0023)
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5. • The European Directive • The meaning of
on Packaging and “biodegradable” can be
Packaging waste very different in different
94/62/EC had a very contexts but, thanks to the
important role because it Directive, it is clear what
clarified the meaning of a “biodegradable
“biodegradation”, packaging” is.
“organic recycling”,
“composting” when
applied to packaging.
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6. • The question of biodegradability is complex and can give
rise to significant debates. Key points are
• where (environment)
• how fast (time scale)
• how much (final level)
• At academic level even traditional ‘non-biodegradable’
plastics can be shown to biodegrade, over a very long
period of time.
• However, such biodegradation rates are clearly unsuited to
the needs of society.
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7. • Biodegradable materials are an attempt to find solutions to a problem
of our society: waste.
• Waste is produced at a very high rate and therefore the disposal rate
must be comparable, in order to avoid accumulation.
Production rate  Waste  Disposal rate
• Incineration is widely adopted precisely because it is a fast process.
There would be no interest in a hypothetical ‘slow combustion’
incinerator because waste does not wait, and quickly builds up.
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8. A Directive prepared following the ‘New
Approach’
(1) It limits legislative harmonisation to
approval of the essential requirements
through Directives
(2) It delegates the task of drawing up the
specific techniques to the competent
industrial standardisation bodies.
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9. http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/single-market-goods/files/blue-guide/guidepublic_en.pdf
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10. The “New Approach”
Laws
Directives Decrees
te
Manda EU NATIONAL
NORMS NORMS
After P.Visintin - UNI
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11. Article 9 of pkg Directive
Essential requirements
1. Member States shall ensure that….
packaging may be placed on the market
only if it complies with all essential
requirements defined by this Directive
including Annex II.
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12. 2. Member States shall, …presume compliance with
all essential requirements … in the case of
packaging which complies…. with the relevant
harmonized standards, the reference numbers of
which have been published in the Official Journal
of the European Communities….
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13. Article 10 of pkg Directive
Standardization
The Commission shall promote, as
appropriate, the preparation of European
standards relating to the essential
requirements referred to in Annex II.
….
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14. Definition 9. “organic recycling”
• ‘organic recycling’ shall mean the aerobic
(composting) or anaerobic
(biomethanization) treatment, under
controlled conditions and using micro-
organisms, of the biodegradable parts of
packaging waste, which produces stabilized
organic residues or methane. Landfill shall
not be considered a form of organic
recycling;
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15. 15

16. 16

17. Harmonised packaging standards
• EN 13428:2005 – Packaging - Requirements Specific To
Manufacturing And Composition - Prevention By Source
Reduction
• EN 13429:2005 – Packaging - Reuse
• EN 13430:2005 – Packaging Requirements For Packaging
Recoverable By Material Recycling
• EN 13431:2005 – Packaging - Requirements For
Packaging Recoverable In The Form Of Energy Recovery,
Including Specification Of Minimum Inferior Calorific
Value
• EN 13432:2000 – Packaging. Requirements for packaging
recoverable through composting and biodegradation. Test
scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of
packaging
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18. Final point
• EN 13432:2000 published in the Official Journal
of the European Communities1
• The standard EN 13432 has been used for 12 years
and has proven to be reliable.
• Similar approach has been adopted by ISO
• 1
L 190 12/07/2001 P.0021-0023
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19. Points that have been debated lately
• Q. EN 13432 does not consider “biodegradable
packaging” that can degrade in the
environment. This gap must be filled.
• R. A “biodegradable packaging” with
properties different from the packaging that
can be recovered through organic recycling
(composting and anaerobic digestion) in
compliance with the EN 13432 is not foreseen
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20. 20

21. EN 13432:2000 – Packaging. Requirements for packaging
recoverable through composting and biodegradation. Test
scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of
packaging
• “Biodegradable” packaging is a packaging
that can be recovered by means of organic
recycling. Other forms of disposal are not
defined by the Directive.
• Controlled landfills, unlicensed landfills or
litter are not part of the European agenda
that rules packaging.
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22. Position of European Bioplastics
• The bioplastics industry is committed to organic
recycling as a controlled and beneficial way of
recovery. Disposal of packaging material in the
environment is not a way of recovery of material –
regardless of material properties.
• Encouraging any form of littering will add to the
problem and further weaken the existing recovery
streams (e.g. recycling and organic recovery).
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23. • Q. Harmonised standards (such as EN 13432) are not
obligatory and adherence is voluntary. May I use
different standard specifications to show
biodegradability?
• R. Yes, EN 13432 is not obligatory. Other industrial
standard specifications are available worldwide and
can be applied. However, they do not automatically
provide presumption of conformity to the essential
requirements. Economic operators thus have the
obligation to prove that their products are in
conformity with the mandatory legal requirements.
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24. Other specifications about compostable
materials
ISO 17088 - Specifications for Compostable Plastics The ISO
(International Organization for Standardization) has drawn up a
standard which specifies the procedures and requirements for
identifying and marking plastics and plastic products suitable for
recovery by aerobic composting.
ASTM D6400 - Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics
ASTM International is a very well known standardisation body,
particularly in the United States. ASTM D 6400 was the first standard
to specify the requirements of plastics and plastic products designed to
be composted in municipal or industrial aerobic composting plants.
EN 14995 - Plastic materials - Assessment of compostability - Test
and specification system It is not an alternative to EN 13432.
Indeed, EN 13432 specifies the characteristics of packaging that can
be recycled through organic recovery (composting and anaerobic
digestion). EN 14995 covers compostable plastic materials not used as
packaging
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25. Technical content of EN 13432
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26. Criteria of the EN 13432
• Biodegradability
• Disintegrability
• Absence of ecotoxicological and negative
effects
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27. Biodegradability
• Organic carbon  CO2 + water
• Test method: ISO 14855
• Duration: 6 months
• Level: 90%
100
90
80
70
biodegradation %
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time (months)
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28. • Q. the biodegradation rate is too fast, the final level is
too high. Composting of plastics is a sort of “cold
incineration” that does not produce any compost and
release CO2, a GHG.
• R. The laboratory approach, used to show inherent
biodegradability, shall not be confused with behaviour on a real
composting process.
• Lab test conditions do not favour biomass but rather catabolic
reactions
• Real composting requires the mixing of different starting
materials, in a "balanced” recipe. Fast, medium, slow
biodegradable compounds are needed.
• No composting expert would consider composting as a "cold
incineration" of vegetable or fruit residues, only because they are
the most biodegradable in the bio-waste mixture.
• Bioplastics can be considered as a constituent of the mixture,
similar in behaviour to cellulose.
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29. Disintegrability (EN 14045)
< 10%
>90%
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30. • Q. Will products disintegrate efficiently in a
composting cycle shorter than 3 months?
• R. Trials carried out by the ISR (ASTM/ISR , 1996)
clearly showed that the disintegration test at pilot scale
was conservative in comparison with the real
composting process .
• Therefore, the fact that the testing period is 90 days
does not imply that a compostable plastic will behave in
a unsatisfactory way in a shorter cycle.
• The pilot scale is less aggressive than the full scale. In
case of doubts a specific trial can be carried out.
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31. • Biodegradability, bio-based content, carbon-footprint etc.
cannot be noted directly by consumers. However, the
commercial success of bioproducts rests precisely on
claims of this kind.
• In order to guarantee market transparency, normative
instruments are needed to link declarations, which are
used as advertising messages, and the actual
characteristics and benefits of the products.
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32. • Many thanks for your attention…
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