Municipal biowaste treatment plants contribute to the contamination of the environment with residues of biodegradable plastics with putative higher persistence potential

Biodegradable plastics (BDP) are expected to mineralize easily, in particular under conditions of technical composting. However, the complexity of the sample matrix has largely prevented degradation studies under realistic conditions. Here composts and fertilizers from state-of-the-art municipal combined anaerobic/aerobic biowaste treatment plants were investigated for residues of BDP. We found BDP fragments > 1 mm in significant numbers in the final composts intended as fertilizer for agriculture and gardening. Compared to pristine compostable bags, the recovered BDP fragments showed differences in their material properties, which potentially renders them less prone to further biodegradation. BDP fragments < 1 mm were extracted in bulk and came up to 0.43 wt% of compost dry weight. Finally, the liquid fertilizer produced during the anaerobic treatment contained several thousand BDP fragments < 500 mu m per liter. Hence, our study questions, if currently available BDP are compatible with applications in areas of environmental relevance, such as fertilizer production.

Automated summary

Residues of biodegradable plastics were found in composts and fertilizers, with potential differences in material properties that may hinder further biodegradation. This raises questions about the suitability of currently available biodegradable plastics in environmentally relevant areas.