Chemical additive accelerates PLA plastic breakdown, enabling home composting
By
Bethany Halford
Summary
Researchers have developed a chemical additive called a "masked acid" that significantly speeds up the breakdown of polylactic acid (PLA), a popular biodegradable polymer. By incorporating small amounts of this anhydride additive into PLA, the material can be composted at home rather than requiring industrial composting facilities. This breakthrough could help address the problem of PLA plastics languishing in landfills or home composters because they don't break down effectively under typical home composting conditions.
Source
bskyChemical additive accelerates PLA plastic breakdown, enabling home compostingcen.acs.orgKey quotes
· 2 pulledA tiny chemical additive could prove to be a big hero in the world of biodegradable polymers.
By incorporating small amounts of what they describe as a 'masked acid' into polylactic acid (PLA), a team of chemists and chemical engineers have found...
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