ECM engaged several renowned testing laboratories to independently establish the biodegradability* of plastic products made with ECM’s additives. The tests concluded that the products were biodegradable* under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. In addition, the tests concluded that their biodegradation* did not produce any toxic residue harmful to living organisms in land or water.
Technology Explanation
The plastic products made with our additives will break down in nearly all landfills or wherever else they may end up. All sorts of factors determine the amount of microbes available in the soil and the soil conditions determine the rate of degradation. The plastic products made with ECM technology basically rely on the microbes in the soil to react with the additives and form communities, biofilms, which create the enzymes and acids that can attack the longchain hydrocarbon molecules and break them down to the point that the microbes’ natural acids and enzymes are then effective and the microbes can metabolize the simple hydrocarbons with CO2 and water or methane being the waste products. This process continues until all the plastic product is fully biodegraded*.
Material treated with ECM has been tested and proved as biodegradable* and safe for the environment by using the following:
• ASTM D5209 “Standard Test Method for Determining
the Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials in the
Presence of Municipal Sewage Sludge”;
• ISO 14855 / ASTM D5338 “Standard Test Method for
Determining Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials
under Controlled Composting Conditions”; and
• ASTM 5511 “Standard Test Method for Determining
Anaerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials Under
High-Solids Anaerobic Digestion Conditions”.
Where will it biodegrade*?
• Home composting
• Commercial composting
• Landfills
• Buried in, or in contact with the soil
• Erosion / Agricultural netting & film
• Litter
Where won’t it degrade?
• Warehouses
• Store shelves
• Offices & Home