Journal of Animal Environmental Science ISSN:1226-0274(Print) 축산시설환경학회지

The improvement of life style has resulted in the increment of outdoor activities and leisure, which caused the increase of disposable products due to its convenience. Petroleum based plastics have shown the negative impacts on the environment with their inert characteristics. In order to improve such a situation, many studies have suggested biodegradable materials for disposable products. However, the determination of biodegradability is not very straightforward and for its convenience, short period and reliance of biodegradability shall be proved. The composting is one way to test biodegradability via American society for testing and materials (ASTM) with ASTM 5338 and 6400. Two different PLA bioplastic resins were tested in temperature controlled composting system in this study in which the cellulose as reference was used for comparison. For 100 days, the degradability of 68.4% in cellulose was achieved and testing materials of TF and XD showed 54.0 and 44.0%, respectively. The degradation analysis via CO₂ capture showed the similar trend of biodegradability in weight basis but the values were difference, which may be some technical errors which shall be improved in the future. Through the model equations, the complete degradation period may be predicted and the values will be reliable with many repeated trials.