The results of this study indicate that materials have different
rates of mineralization under different end of life scenarios. For
example, the positive control reached 70% conversion in 25 days
during AD while 75 and 400 days were needed to reach the same
extent of conversion under composting and soil incubation conditions,
respectively. The plastarch material degraded faster under
composting conditions reaching 50% conversion in 85 days than
under AD and soil incubation conditions where only 26 and 30%
was converted after 50 and 660 days, respectively. For copolyester
þ corn-based plastic 20% of the material was converted
during 20 days of soil incubation while 50 days were needed to
reach the same value during AD. Ultimately, co-polyester þ cornbased
plastic reached 55% conversion after 660 days of soil incubation.
Conventional plastics and those containing additives did
not degrade at all under any of the three conditions.