I think I read that photodegrading is faster than biodegrading, which is an argument for not having plastics buried away from the light in landfills.
I'm not sure when plastic biodegrades to a point where the actual plastic molecules themselves are broken down.
For that matter, although i can take a guess at "molecules being completely broken down into their constituent atoms", i don't know what the definition of "complete" biodegradation is.
I'd like some open-minded chemists to contribute; maybe I need to hunt some down. I'm a little out of my depth in some of this.
"There are other plastic materials that claim biodegradability, but are more often (and possibly more accurately) described as 'degradable' or oxi-degradable; It is claimed that this process causes more rapid breakdown of the plastic materials into CO2 and H2O."
which also lists times for some plastics to degrade, but i suspect some of these times are far too short. I may be wrong. Also depends on where these items degrade: Surface (sunlight) may degrade faster than burial.
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I think I read that photodegrading is faster than biodegrading, which is an argument for not having plastics buried away from the light in landfills.
I'm not sure when plastic biodegrades to a point where the actual plastic molecules themselves are broken down.
For that matter, although i can take a guess at "molecules being completely broken down into their constituent atoms", i don't know what the definition of "complete" biodegradation is.
I'd like some open-minded chemists to contribute; maybe I need to hunt some down. I'm a little out of my depth in some of this.
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"There are other plastic materials that claim biodegradability, but are more often (and possibly more accurately) described as 'degradable' or oxi-degradable; It is claimed that this process causes more rapid breakdown of the plastic materials into CO2 and H2O."
from the *cough* Wikipedia article on biodegradation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodegrade#Indicative_lengths_of_degradation
which also lists times for some plastics to degrade, but i suspect some of these times are far too short. I may be wrong. Also depends on where these items degrade: Surface (sunlight) may degrade faster than burial.
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