Often, terms such as BIODEGRADABILITY and COMPOSTABILITY are misused without fully understanding their meaning. Let us therefore analyze these concepts, also referring to European regulations that provide the extremes for an unambiguous understanding of these terms.
The topic of packaging sustainability originates from European Directive 94/62/EC, which set out guidelines to be followed for environmentally sustainable management. The legislation provides for measures to prevent the production of packaging waste, with reuse of packaging, recycling and composting of packaging materials as additional basic principles.
In Italy, the recycling rate has reached 81 percent, or 4 out of 5 pieces of packaging are recycled; European targets in this regard, call for reaching the 85 percent rate by 2035.
Very important concepts in the context of the "Green Economy" are biodegradability and compostability, terms that have also been widely used in recent years as a marketing tool for companies, given the growing consumer awareness of environmental impact issues.
In the European context, the reference standard is UNI EN 13432:2002 "requirements for packaging recoverable by composting and biodegradation."
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BIODEGRADABILITY is defined as the degradation of at least 90 percent of the basic components of the test product within six months in the presence of a carbon dioxide-rich environment. This value to be officially recognized is defined and verified according to ISO 14855:2008.
Paper and paperboard are biodegradable products, as declared by paper mills, but they are not compostable products.
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COMPOSTABILITY, on the other hand, means a product with the following characteristics:
degradability of at least 90 percent within six months in the presence of a carbon dioxide-rich environment. The value must be verified according to the ISO 14855 method.
if placed in contact with organic materials for three months, the mass of the material must consist of at least 90% fragments smaller than 2 mm, to be verified according to ISO 14045:2012.
the material must have no adverse effects on the composting process
low concentration of heavy metals added to the material
pH values, salt content, concentrations of volatile solids, nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium must remain below established limits.
Differentiation is critical in order to identify the proper reuse or management of end-of-life packaging and to identify what materials are compatible with each other that can be paired.
L-ife's efforts are primarily focused on finding compostable solutions for sensitive companies.
We firmly believe in generating fully compostable packaging that can never be called waste at any stage of its life cycle.
One of the research avenues we are addressing involves the proper interaction between packaging board and Mycelium.
Paperboard is an extremely versatile and sustainable material that is biodegradable but not compostable.
Mycelium, due to its digestive properties, is one of the key players in the degradation of biodegradable but non-compostable fibers.
Therefore, we are analyzing these aspects and comparing the characteristics of corrugated board with the properties of mycelium and their possible interactions in a near future of sustainable and perhaps even compostable products.
Therefore, L-ife's research is directed toward the possibility of rapidly degrading cardboard. We are finalizing our growth tests on packaging waste fiber as an alternative use of cardboard at the end of its life.
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