What does Oxo-biodegradable mean?
Oxo Biodegradable (OBD) plastic is polyolefin plastic to which has been added very small (catalytic) amounts of metal salts. These catalyze the natural degradation process to speed it up so that the OBD plastic will degrade when subject to environmental conditions to produce water, carbon dioxide and biomass. The process is shortened from hundreds of years to years and/or months for degradation and thereafter biodegradation depends on the micro-organisms in the environment. Are your bags compostable? OBD plastic is degradable and biodegradable, and can be recycled with normal plastic [1] but it is not as yet marketed as compostable. This oxidation process takes longer than the 180 day period required by ASTM D6400 and similar standards for compostable plastics such as EN13432 and ISO 17088. This short time is necessary for compostable plastics because industrial composting has a short timescale, and is not the same as biodegradation in the environment. Where can I read more about OBD m
