Compostable Resin Blends
Compostable resins are resins that will fully degrade in an Industrial Compost environment, generally specified by ASTM D-6400 (US) or EN14342 (Europe). These requirements specify a rate and completeness of degradation in order to be certified as compostable. BiologiQ’s ESR is one such resin, having been granted the Vincotte certification S600 based on laboratory testing in 2016.
When blended with other certified compostable resins, the resulting product is also fully compostable. Therefore, blends containing ESR and PBAT, or ESR and PLA are fully compostable according to US and European standards (PLA and PBAT are examples of certified products).
Compostable materials are not optimum for all applications, but where desired, the degradation rate should match the requirements of the application.
Fortunately, due to ESR’s very rapid degradation rate, ESR can enhance the overall biodegradation performance of other resins in applications where this is a desirable condition. For example, PBAT is often used as an agricultural mulch film; however its degradation rate in a farm environment is slower than generally desired. Using an ESR / PBAT compostable blend, the degradation rate can be designed to be as short as 30-60 days, while still providing crop enhancing features that are required.
We have experience blending ESR with a wide variety of other compostable resins such as PLA, PHA, PBAT, PBS and PCL. Please contact BiologiQ directly to discuss your specific compostable resin material needs and we will help you design a compostable blend for your application.
Conventional Plastics are shown in the top left quadrant. All three other quadrants are bioplastics.
Some bioplastics are not biodegradable (most are) and some fossil-fuel plastics are biodegradable (most are not). Any plastic that decomposes into natural elements because of microbial activity as verified by testing according to one of the ASTM test methods can be called and is considered to be biodegradable within the time limits and amounts as verified by the specific test method