ISO/CD 25304.2

Plastics — Determination of the degree of biodegradation and disintegration of plastics under high-solids anaerobic-digestion conditions

Scope

This document specifies a method of determining the degree of ultimate anaerobic biodegradability and disintegration of plastics when exposed to high-solids mesophilic or thermophilic anaerobic-digestion conditions. This method is based on ISO 15985, amended with a modified approach to determine disintegration. 
This method is designed to simulate typical anaerobic digestion conditions for the organic fraction of mixed municipal solid waste. The test product is exposed in a laboratory test to an inoculum derived from anaerobic digesters operating only on pre-treated household waste. The anaerobic decomposition takes place under high-solids (more than 20 % solids) and static non-mixed conditions. In case no complete disintegration occurs at the end of the anaerobic phase, the digestate may be transferred to aerobic controlled composting conditions to determine the degree of disintegration after a post-composting phase.
NOTE The test method is written for “plastics”, but can also be used for other product groups (e.g. packaging).