Introduction

What is degradable plastic?

Degradation of plastics is a large concept that refers to plastics that, over a period of time and involving one or more steps under prescribed environmental conditions, result in significant changes in the chemical structure of the material resulting in loss of certain properties (such as integrity, molecular mass, structure or mechanical strength) and/or breakage. Among them, photodegraded plastics and thermo-oxygenated plastics belong to rupture plastics and should not be attributed to biodegradable plastics. Degradable plastics shall be tested using standard test methods that reflect changes in performance and shall be classified according to the mode of degradation and period of use. Without combining the type of degradable plastic and its degradation environmental conditions, and generally said degradable plastic, does not mean that this kind of plastic can be completely degraded into environmentally friendly substances.