Aimplas develops a new biodegradable plastic for agriculture

The technological Institute of plastics, Aimplas coordinates a new group project funded by the European Commission in the 6th framework programme to develop a new biodegradable plastic for agriculture which will be used to speed up the process of maturation of agricultural products as well as control the temperatureincrease the efficiency of fertilizer and save water used for irrigation. The project responds to the acronym for Trigger and it involves 15 organizations from Spain, Italy, France, United Kingdom, Latvia and Bulgaria: 6 associations of farmers, 6 SMEs, 2 centres of research and a University.

The most important innovation lies in the biodegradation of this new plastic speed can be controlled by the own farmer. During the time that growing need the protection of the plastic, its speed of degradation is very slow, thus preserving its mechanical properties. However, once finished its role, the farmer will activate the mechanism of biodegradation incorporating own plastic to speed up the process and degrade completely in a few weeks. In addition, the rate of biodegradation will be independent of the type of cultivation, the type of soil or climatic conditions in which use. The film incorporates an initiator agent and accelerator of biodegradation, activated when in contact with water. During the useful lifetime of plastic, the initiator will remain isolated. Once the plastic ceases to be useful are triturará in the field with the machinery adapted to this end, coming into contact with the ground and moisture, and picking up both the biodegradation process.

Another possible alternative provides for the incorporation in the film of additives inhibitors of biodegradation during use, which would act at the time when the crop has been completed and the film is crushed.

Agricultural market is the fourth in terms of consumption of plastic material, after the container and packaging, construction and automotive. During the 2004 in Spain they consumed around 240,000 tonnes of plastic in the agricultural sector. The biodegradable plastic puts an end to the problem that generated the plastic waste in the field.

The advantage with the biodegradable plastics with regard to the non-biodegradable films is that it eliminates the costs generated by their subsequent management as waste both the withdrawal of the film of the field. The cost of removal is high, this creates a problem for the farmer who, on many occasions, does not remove the waste of these films, remaining in the field of polluting the soil and deteriorate its quality.

In addition, that plastic is often contaminated with remains of fertilizers and insecticides. Pollution may persist after the life of the material, even if the plastic has already been taken to landfills, which is the unnecessary existence of products which are contaminating the environment.

On the biodegradable films, the new film presents great innovations. First of all is the farmer who decides when has to disappear the plastic according to your needs. In addition, the film maintains its properties throughout his life, but has the ability to degrade in an fast and effective after cultivation.

Another advantage that brings is that the biodegradation process is faster, because it is activated and accelerates at the desired time. In biodegradable plastics that currently exist, this process slows down so that the material does not lose excessive mechanical properties during its useful life.

Also, the biodegradation process does depend on external factors such as climate, soil type or the type of cultivation, as do other biodegradable plastic.

Finally, the raw material base used is starch of pea, a component that is obtained as a by-product in the process of protein. The starch of pea, for their properties, does not need chemical modifications, as it is the case in the majority of materials used for biodegradable plastics. Therefore, the process of production of this new material, is cleaner.

The project has a budget of 2.8 million euros and a period of three years.