Composting Compostability is a clear benefit when plastic items are mixed with biowaste. Under these conditions, mechanical recycling is not feasible, neither for plastics nor biowaste. The use of compostable plastics makes the mixed waste suitable for organic recycling (composting), enabling the shift from recovery to recycling (a treatment option [...]
Mechanical recycling As most conventional plastics, biobased plastics need to be recycled in separate streams for each material type (e.g. PET-stream). Where a recycling stream for a specific plastic type is established (e.g. PE or PET), the biobased alternatives (bio-PE, bio-PET) can be recycled together with their conventional counterparts. [...]
Biodegradable plastics The property of biodegradability does not depend on the resource basis of a material. This feature is directly linked to the chemical structure of the polymer and can benefit particular applications, in particular packaging. Biodegradable plastic types offer new ways of recovery and recycling (organic recycling). If [...]