Disintegration testing of packaging material under simulated composting conditions in laboratory scale : an experiment following standard SFS-EN 14806

Plastic pollution has been recognized as an environmental issue for decades, and one of the sources of that pollution is packaging. In 2015, packaging accounted for 60% of the plastic waste in the EU. Therefore, it is indispensable that packaging should be developed to protect not only the product and the consumers’ health, but also the environment. Before new packaging material is launched onto the market, testing of degradability following certain standards is required. This thesis aimed to evaluate the disintegrability of packaging materials through laboratory-scale composting test, following standard SFS-EN 14806. Testing materials included three samples: base sheets coated differently (provided by Kemira Oyj – the commissioner), and two reference materials: non-coated base sheet (from Kemira Oyj), and base sheet coated with starch (from Tampere University of Applied Sciences – TAMK). Additionally, a cellulose-hemicellulose sheet was also added as reference material for evaluation of composting performance. The test lasted for 91 days and was implemented in Environmental Laboratory of TAMK. At termination of the test, degree of disintegration was calculated based on the mass of residues of testing materials after sieving the compost. Results showed that after 91 days, the composting test was entirely valid. The final compost seemed to be immature although composting process has occurred enough for cellulose-hemicellulose (compost reference) to disintegrate completely. The reason leading to the outcome of immature compost, was speculated to be because of temperature profile applied during the test. Regarding disintegrability, base sheet (sample reference 1) disintegrated less than base sheet coated with starch (sample reference 2), but disintegrated more than the three coated samples. Based on the results of this thesis work, further study can be carried out to determine the biodegradability and compostability of the tested samples. However, conducting a repeat test or another test with different temperature profile is suggested, to investigate the factors causing final compost to be immature, as well as to ensure the reliability of disintegrability of the samples