Degradation processes of biodegradable plastic films in the terrestrial environments

Abstract

Biodegradable plastics (BPs) can be utilized as carbon and energy sources by diverse microorganisms in the environment with their degradation. BPs-degrading microorganisms (BDMs) were isolated from diverse soil samples from industrial complex, swamp, and wastewater treatment plant. The isolated BDMs were classified according to the size of clear zone. To accelerate degradation of BPs, understanding the mechanism of degradation is necessary. In this study, the BPs biodegradation was performed under the sterilized conditions of artificial soil. The BDMs were inoculated into artificial soils with BPs. Under the artificial soil conditions, it can be easily controlled several factors such as pH, temperature, salinity, moisture contents, etc. unlike compost degradation conditions. And the degradation mechanism of BPs was also analyzed through FT-IR, XRD, and SEM. It can provide information on the biological factors that affect the biodegradation of BPs in real environments.