An initial experiment was conducted to assess the effect of
particle size on biodegradation during soil incubation. Seven materials
were tested and the amount of carbon converted to CO2 was
compared using student’s t method for particle size effect. Student’s
t method revealed that out of the seven materials studied in this
experiment, only one, a co-polyester þ corn-based plastic, showed
a significant effect of particle size on biodegradability. A significantly
greater extent of biodegradation was observed for copolyester
þ corn-based plastic in 1 1 cm square film form
(55.1 2.1%) after 660 days as compared to a ground sample of the
same material (39.71 2.4%). For the rest of the materials, there
was not a significant effect of particle size on biodegradation. Results
from this study suggested that for most of the materials
studied, biodegradability in soil was not greatly affected by particle
size under the experimental conditions used in the study