D20.96 - Environmentally Degradable Plastics and Biobased Products

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 The use of plastics aboard ships is on the rise and the use of the sea as a trash dumping site is no longer a possibility; consequently, the disposal of plastic materials while at sea remains a major issue. It is possible that biodegradable plastics will help to allay public concern by allowing for the safe disposal of plastic materials at sea. This test method has been developed to assess the rate and degree of aerobic biodegradation of plastics exposed to marine microorganisms. Aerobic biodegradation is determined by measuring the amount of biogas (carbon dioxide) produced during such an exposure.  
5.2 It is acceptable to use the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradability of a plastic under the conditions of this test method to estimate the persistence of that plastic in biologically active marine environments, for example, seashore and open-ocean. However, it shall be recognized that predicting long-term environmental fate and effects from the results of short-term exposure to a simulated marine environment is difficult. Thus, caution shall be exercised when extrapolating the results obtained from this or any other controlled-environment test to disposal in the natural environment.
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1.1 This test method is used to determine the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials (including formulation additives) exposed to pre-grown population of at least ten aerobic marine microorganisms of known genera or the indigenous population existing in natural seawater. The test method is conducted under controlled laboratory conditions.  
1.2 This test method is designed to index polymer materials that are possibly biodegradable, relative to a positive reference material, in an aerobic environment.  
1.3 This test method is applicable to all polymer materials containing at least 20 % carbon that are not inhibitory to the microorganisms present in a marine environment.  
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.  
1.5 There is no known ISO equivalent to this standard.  
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.  
1.7 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 This testing method provides accurate biobased/biogenic carbon content results to materials whose carbon source was directly in equilibrium with CO2 in the atmosphere at the time of cessation of respiration or metabolism, such as the harvesting of a crop or grass living its natural life in a field. Special considerations are needed to apply the testing method to materials originating from within artificial environments. Application of these testing methods to materials derived from CO2 uptake within artificial environments is beyond the present scope of this standard.  
4.2 Method B utilizes AMS along with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product. Instrumental error can be within 0.1-0.5 % (1 relative standard deviation (RSD)), but controlled studies identify an inter-laboratory total uncertainty up to ±3 % (absolute). This error is exclusive of indeterminate sources of error in the origin of the biobased content (see Section 22 on precision and bias).  
4.3 Method C uses LSC techniques to quantify the biobased content of a product using sample carbon that has been converted to benzene. This test method determines the biobased content of a sample with a maximum total error of ±3 % (absolute), as does Method B.  
4.4 The test methods described here directly discriminate between product carbon resulting from contemporary carbon input and that derived from fossil-based input. A measurement of a product’s 14C/12C or 14C/13C content is determined relative to a carbon based modern reference material accepted by the radiocarbon dating community such as NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM) 4990C, (referred to as OXII or HOxII). It is compositionally related directly to the original oxalic acid radiocarbon standard SRM 4990B (referred to as OXI or HOxI), and is denoted in terms of fM, that is, the sample’s fraction of modern carbon. (See Terminology, Section 3.)  
4.5 Reference standards, available to all...
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1.1 This standard is a test method that teaches how to experimentally measure biobased carbon content of solids, liquids, and gaseous samples using radiocarbon analysis. These test methods do not address environmental impact, product performance and functionality, determination of geographical origin, or assignment of required amounts of biobased carbon necessary for compliance with federal laws.  
1.2 These test methods are applicable to any product containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. The overall analytical method is also applicable to gaseous samples, including flue gases from electrical utility boilers and waste incinerators.  
1.3 These test methods make no attempt to teach the basic principles of the instrumentation used although minimum requirements for instrument selection are referenced in the References section. However, the preparation of samples for the above test methods is described. No details of instrument operation are included here. These are best obtained from the manufacturer of the specific instrument in use.  
1.4 Limitation—This standard is applicable to laboratories working without exposure to artificial carbon-14 (14C). Artificial 14C is routinely used in biomedical studies by both liquid scintillation counter (LSC) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratories and can exist within the laboratory at levels 1,000 times or more than 100 % biobased materials and 100,000 times more than 1% biobased materials. Once in the laboratory, artificial 14C can become undetectably ubiquitous on door knobs, pens, desk tops, and other surfaces but which may randomly contaminate an unknown sample producing inaccurately high biobased results. Despite vigorous attempts to clean up contaminating artificial 14C from a laboratory, isolation has proven to be the only successful method of avoidance. Completely separate chemical ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 This guide is a sequential assembly of extant but unconnected standard tests and practices for the oxidation and biodegradation of plastics, which will permit the comparison and ranking of the overall rate of environmental degradation of plastics that require thermal or photooxidation to initiate degradation. Each degradation stage is independently evaluated to allow a combined evaluation of a polymer’s environmental performance under a controlled laboratory setting. This enables a laboratory assessment of its disposal performance in, soil, municipal or industrial compost, landfill, and water and for use in agricultural products such as mulch film without detriment to that particular environment.
Note 5: For determining biodegradation rates under municipal or industrial composting conditions, Specification D6400 is to be used, including test methods and conditions as specified.  
5.2 The correlation of results from this guide to actual disposal environments (for example, agricultural mulch films, municipal or industrial composting, or landfill applications) has not been determined, and as such, the results should be used only for comparative and ranking purposes.  
5.3 The results of laboratory exposure cannot be directly extrapolated to estimate absolute rate of deterioration by the environment because the acceleration factor is material dependent and can be significantly different for each material and for different formulations of the same material. However, exposure of a similar material of known outdoor performance, a control, at the same time as the test specimens allows comparison of the durability relative to that of the control under the test conditions.
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1.1 This guide provides a framework or road map to compare and rank the controlled laboratory rates of degradation and degree of physical property losses of polymers by thermal and photooxidation processes as well as the biodegradation and ecological impacts in defined applications and disposal environments after degradation. Disposal environments range from exposure in soil, landfill, and municipal or industrial compost in which thermal oxidation may occur and land cover and agricultural use in which photooxidation may also occur.  
1.2 In this guide, established ASTM International standards are used in three tiers for accelerating and measuring the loss in properties and molecular weight by both thermal and photooxidation processes and other abiotic processes (Tier 1), measuring biodegradation (Tier 2), and assessing ecological impact of the products from these processes (Tier 3).  
1.3 The Tier 1 conditions selected for thermal oxidation and photooxidation accelerate the degradation likely to occur in a chosen application and disposal environment. The conditions should include a range of humidity or water concentrations based on the application and disposal environment in mind. The measured rate of degradation at typical oxidation temperatures is required to compare and rank the polymers being evaluated in that chosen application to reach a molecular weight that constitutes a demonstrable biodegradable residue (using ASTM International biometer tests for CO2 evolution appropriate to the chosen environment). By way of example, accelerated oxidation data must be obtained at temperatures and humidity ranges typical in that chosen application and disposal environment, for example, in soil (20 to 30°C), landfill (20 to 35°C), and municipal or industrial composting facilities (30 to 65°C). For applications in soils, local temperatures and humidity ranges must be considered as they vary widely with geography. At least one temperature must be reasonably close to the end use or disposal temperature, but under no circumstances should this be more than 20°C away from the removed that temperature. It must also be established that the polymer does not undergo a phase change, such as glass transition temperature (Tg) within the...

ABSTRACT
This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities. The properties in this specification are those required to determine if plastics and products made from plastics will compost satisfactorily, including biodegrading at a rate comparable to known compostable materials. The purpose of this specification is to establish standards for identifying products and materials that will compost satisfactorily in commercial and municipal composting facilities.
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1.1 This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted under aerobic conditions in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities, where thermophilic conditions are achieved.  
1.2 This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of materials and products, including packaging made from plastics, as “compostable in aerobic municipal and industrial composting facilities.”  
1.3 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if end items (including packaging), which use plastics and polymers as coatings or binders will compost satisfactorily, in large scale aerobic municipal or industrial composting facilities. Maximum throughput is a high priority to composters and the intermediate stages of plastic disintegration and biodegradation not be visible to the end user for aesthetic reasons.  
1.4 The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1: This test method is equivalent to ISO 17088.  
1.5 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Plastic is sometimes carried by rivers or accidentally discharged by ships into the sea; this plastic can then reach different parts of the marine environment. Tides and waves also frequently deliver plastic marine debris into the sandy tidal zones.  
5.2 This test method simulates the environmental conditions found in the tidal zone. Plastic debris that reaches the sandy tidal zone can settle there and become partially or totally buried by sand and kept wet by waves or tides. It is of interest to assess the biodegradation behavior of plastic materials under these conditions to predict the removal time of this waste in the environment.  
5.3 This test method is applied to determine the extent of biodegradation of a plastic exposed in the laboratory to a sandy sediment kept wet with seawater. Both sediment and seawater are collected from a sandy beach in the tidal zone. If the natural microbial population present in the sediment is able to biodegrade the plastic, there will be an evolution of CO2 as a consequence of the aerobic microbial respiration. The level of biodegradation at any given time is the ratio between the cumulative amount of the evolved net carbon dioxide and the theoretical amount produced in the case of total conversion of the organic carbon present in the plastic into carbon dioxide.  
5.4 This test method does not measure the amount of organic carbon that is converted into biomass, but only the biodegradation that leads to mineralization (that is, the formation of CO2).
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1.1 This test method determines the biodegradation level of plastic materials exposed to laboratory conditions that simulate the environment found in the sandy tidal zone.  
1.2 The tidal zone, that is, the part of the coast affected by the tides and movement of the waves, is the borderline between sea and land, frequently a sandy area that is kept constantly damp by the lapping of the waves. Stony and rocky shorelines also exist.  
1.3 Plastic marine debris is frequently washed up in this habitat where it must be removed in order to restore the original landscape.  
1.4 It is of interest to know the biodegradation behavior of plastics when exposed to conditions simulating this habitat, because this information can help in predicting the time needed for the biodegradation of the litter.  
1.5 Biodegradation is determined by measuring the CO2 evolved by the plastic material when exposed to a sediment kept wet with salt-water in a reactor, to simulate the tidal zone.  
1.6 Marine fresh-water habitats (for example, those found in brackish waters and estuaries) are not considered by this standard.  
1.7 Reports shall clearly state the percentage of net CO2 generation for both the test and reference samples at the completion of the test. Furthermore, in the laboratory reports, the results shall not be extrapolated beyond the actual duration of the test.  
Note 1: There is no known ISO equivalent to this standard.  
1.8 Units—The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.  
1.9 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.  
1.10 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

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1.1 This test method is used to determine the weight loss as a function of time of non-floating plastic materials (including formulation additives), when incubated under changing, open, marine aquarium conditions, which is representative of aquatic aerobic environments near the coasts and near the bottom of a body of water in the absence of sunlight, particularly UV and visible portions of the spectrum. The goal of this test is to obtain data that can be used to assess the potential for physical degradation of the test material. Such potential for physical degradation will be affected by real life environmental conditions.  
1.2 In particular this test method does not take into consideration the possible effects of solar irradiation.  
1.3 The aquarium-incubated plastic materials are examined for visual degradation and dry weight loss over time. This test does not provide information on ultimate biodegradation (that is, it is not a replacement for Test Method D6691), but it is an ASTM method for weight attrition. The standard addresses only weight loss as a function of time of the plastics materials in a marine environment and shall not be used for demonstrating ultimate biodegradation.  
1.4 This test method does not provide information regarding the potential formation of microplastics due to the physical degradation of the samples.  
1.5 Plastic pieces of known size and thickness are used at levels so as not to exceed the availability of micronutrients essential for and therefore limit the microbial processes.  
1.6 The aquarium incubation test method allows for representative indigenous microorganisms present in seawater and marine sediment to be enriched for and carry out the biodegradation. It is recommended that the test be carried out in the geographical vicinity (latitudinal area) where the test materials are likely to be used. These Aquarium studies are conducted in indoor environments, hence any sunlight-induced effects on degradation, or biodegradation, or both, are not taken into account.  
1.7 This test by itself shall not be used as the basis for claims, such as “Biodegradable in Marine Environments” since it is only a weight loss test method. This test method is solely a means for measuring a characteristic (physical degradation) under standard conditions. It does not assess the general environmental impact of plastic products.  
1.8 Units—The values stated in either SI units or inch-pound units are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in each system are not necessarily exact equivalents; therefore, each system shall be used independently of the other. Combining values from the two systems has the potential to result in non-conformance with the standard.  
1.9 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1: There is no known ISO equivalent to this standard.  
1.10 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

ABSTRACT
This specification establishes the requirements for labelling of materials and products (including packaging), wherein a biodegradable plastic film or coating is attached (either through lamination or extrusion directly onto the paper) to compostable substrates and the entire product or package is designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities. This specification, however, does not describe the contents of the product or their performance with regards to compostability or biodegradability. In order to compost satisfactorily, the product must demonstrate each of the three characteristics as follows: (1) proper disintegration during composting; (2) adequate level of inherent biodegradation; and (3) no adverse impacts on the ability of composts to support plant growth.
SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers end items that include plastics or polymers where plastic film/ sheet or polymers are incorporated (either through lamination, extrusion or mixing) to substrates and the entire end item is designed to be composted under aerobic conditions in municipal and industrial composting facilities, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved.  
1.2 This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of end items which use plastics or polymers as coatings or binders, as “compostable in aerobic municipal and industrial composting facilities.”  
1.3 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if end items (including packaging) which use plastics and polymers as coatings or binders will compost satisfactorily, in large scale aerobic municipal or industrial composting where maximum throughput is a high priority and where intermediate stages of plastic biodegradation must not be visible to the end user for aesthetic reasons.  
1.4 The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1: There is no known ISO equivalent for this standard.  
1.5 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Biodegradation of a plastic within a composting unit is an important phenomenon because it may affect the decomposition of other materials enclosed by the plastic and the resulting quality and appearance of the composted material. Biodegradation of plastics will also allow the safe disposal of these plastics through large, professionally-managed composting plants and well-run residential units, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved. This procedure has been developed to permit the determination of the rate and degree of aerobic biodegradability of plastic products when placed in a controlled composting process.  
5.2 Limitations—Because there is a wide variation in the construction and operation of composting facilities and because regulatory requirements for composting systems vary, this procedure is not intended to simulate the environment of any particular composting system. However, it is expected to resemble the environment of a composting process operated under optimum conditions where thermophilic temperatures are achieved. More specifically, the procedure is intended to create a standard laboratory environment that will permit a rapid and reproducible determination of the aerobic biodegradability under controlled composting conditions.
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1.1 This test method determines the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials on exposure to a controlled-composting environment under laboratory conditions, at thermophilic temperatures. This test method is designed to yield reproducible and repeatable test results under controlled conditions that resemble composting conditions, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved. The test substances are exposed to an inoculum that is derived from compost from municipal solid waste. The aerobic composting takes place in an environment where temperature, aeration and humidity are closely monitored and controlled.  
Note 1: During composting, thermophilic temperatures are most readily achieved in large-scale, professionally-managed facilities. However, these temperatures may also be reached in smaller residential composting units, frequently referred to as “backyard” or “home” composting.  
1.2 This test method is designed to yield a percentage of conversion of carbon in the sample to carbon dioxide. The rate of biodegradation is monitored as well.  
1.3 This test method is designed to be applicable to all plastic materials, which are intended to be composted in facilities that achieve thermophilic temperatures.  
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.  
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Specific hazard statements are given in Section 8.  
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.  
1.7 This test method is equivalent to ISO 14855.  
1.8 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Decomposition of a plastic within a landfill involves processes in aerobic and anaerobic environmental conditions that can affect the decomposition of other materials enclosed by or in close proximity to the plastic. The rate of change from aerobic to anaerobic conditions is probably a characteristic of the particular landfill site, its garbage and the filling technique and is therefore difficult to assess with any degree of accuracy. Different sources indicate days to months (Refs (8) and (9)) for this change with the spread dependent on the perspective of what is aerobic or anaerobic and how fast the environment changes, 30 days is chosen in this method as a compromise time period. (Note, even very low levels of oxygen, far below normal atmospheric concentration can promote oxidative degradation). Obviously, there will be pockets of protected (in bags, cans, etc.) aerobic activity enclosed in any landfill. There is currently no evidence or data to support claims that rapid degradation of the plastic (when compared to conventional non-degradable plastic) can increase the economic feasibility of landfill-gas recovery, minimize the duration of after-care of the landfill, and make possible the recovery of the volume reduction of the waste due to degradation and biodegradation during the active life of the landfill. Additionally, it is possible that the rapid degradation and biodegradation of plastics can create hazardous conditions in landfills, such as the shifting of cells and overall stability. This standard method has been developed to permit determination of the aerobic degradation and anaerobic biodegradation of plastic products when placed in biologically active environments simulating some landfill conditions.  
5.2 The decomposition of plastic materials in a landfill is of importance, as most landfills are biologically active and are an increasingly significant source of renewable energy. As degradation occurs in a landfill, it is of immediate concern th...
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1.1 This test method is used to determine the degree and rate of aerobic degradation (as indicated by loss of tensile strength, molecular weight, possibly resulting in disintegration and fragmentation) and anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in an accelerated aerobic-anaerobic bioreactor landfill test environment. It can simulate the change from aerobic to anaerobic environments over time as landfill depth increases. In Tier 1, the test plastic material is mixed with household waste, then pretreated and stabilized aerobically in the presence of air, in a sealed vessel in a temperature range that is consistent with the average temperature range of those recorded for landfills. The tier is an accelerated simulation of degradation with concomitant oxygen consumption and depletion with time as if oxidative degradation proceeds. In Tier 2 samples of the plastic materials pretreated aerobically as described in Tier 1, are exposed to a methanogenic inoculum derived from anaerobic digesters operating only on pretreated household waste. The anaerobic decomposition and biodegradation occur under dry (more than 30 % total solids) and static non-mixed conditions.  
1.2 This test method generates comparative data for several materials and must not be used to make claims regarding benefits of placing degradable or biodegradable plastics in landfills. Claims must be limited to and dependent on the results obtained from each tier.  
1.2.1 If only Tier 1 is run, then the claims must state: Will modify the performance/physical properties (for example, mechanical properties will degrade), up to a measured percent, X%, in a given time period, Y days using Test Methods D3593 (Molecular weight change) and Test Method D3826 (tensile strength change) in a biologically active “bioreactor” landfill. Report measured percent property changes and standards used to measure the test results which are, for example, changes in tensile streng...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 The tensile elongation property determined by this practice is of value for the characterization of degradable materials. It is possible that the tensile elongation property will vary with specimen thickness, method of preparation, speed of testing, type of grips used, and manner of measuring test extension. Consequently, where precise comparative results are desired, these factors must be carefully controlled.  
4.2 It is acceptable to use the tensile elongation property to provide data for research and development and engineering design as well as quality control specifications. However, data from such tests cannot be considered significant for applications differing widely from the load-time scale of the test employed.  
4.3 Materials that fail by tearing give anomalous data that cannot be compared with those from normal failure.  
4.4 Before proceeding with this test method, reference needs to be made to the specifications of the material being tested. Any test specimen preparation, conditioning, dimensions, or testing parameters or a combination thereof, covered in the material specifications shall take precedence over those mentioned in this test method. If there are no material specifications, then the default conditions apply.
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1.1 This practice covers the determination of a degradation-end point (a brittle point) for degradable polyethylene/polypropylene films and sheeting less than 1.0 mm (0.04 in.) thick. This practice is not intended for determination of the rate or degree of degradation of a polyethylene/polypropylene film or sheet, but rather, to assess when in the course of its degradation under some condition, a brittle point is reached. If one wishes to monitor tensile elongation during the degradation process (such as when the tensile elongation is significantly greater than 5 %), Test Method D882 is recommended. This practice is not to be considered the only way of determining a degradation-end point.  
1.2 Tensile properties of plastics 1.0 mm (0.04 in.) or greater in thickness shall be determined in accordance with Test Method D638.  
1.3 Use a static weighing-constant rate of grip separation test. This procedure employs a constant rate of separation of the grips holding the sample and a static load cell.  
Note 1: This procedure is based on the use of grip separation as a measure of extension; however, the desirability of using extension indicators accurate to ±1.0 % or better as specified in Test Method D638 is recognized, and a provision for the use of such instrumentation is incorporated in the procedure.  
1.4 This procedure has been successful for determining the degradation end point of ethylene-carbon-monoxide copolymers and has screened successfully two other additive-type polyethylenes in a round robin test.  
1.5 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values in parentheses are for information only.  
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.  
1.7 There is no equivalent ISO standard.  
1.8 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Since the correlation between the conditions specified in this practice and actual disposal environments (for example, composting, soil or landfill) has not been determined or established, the test results are to be used only for comparative and ranking purposes in the laboratory. No extrapolation to real world disposal expectations or predictions are to be made from results obtained by this procedure. Real world evaluations and correlations are needed for such claims.  
4.2 Degradable plastics exposed to heat and humidity are subject to many types of physical and chemical changes. The severity of the exposures in both time, temperature and humidity level, determines the extent and type of change that occurs. For example, short exposure times at elevated temperatures generally serve to shorten the induction period of oxidatively degradable plastics during which the depletion of antioxidants and stabilizers occurs. Physical properties, such as tensile and impact strength and elongation and modulus, sometimes change during this induction period; however, these changes are generally not due to molecular-weight degradation, but are merely a temperature-dependent response, such as increased crystallinity or loss of volatile material, or both. The effects of humidity are less well understood and are more difficult to predict and depend on the degradable plastics characteristics such as hydrophilicity, polarity and composition.  
4.3 Generally, short exposures at elevated temperatures drive out volatiles such as moisture, solvents, or plasticizers; relieve molding stresses; advance the cure of thermosets; increase crystallinity; and cause some change in color of the plastic or coloring agent, or both. Normally, additional shrinkage is expected with a loss of volatiles or advance in polymerization.  
4.4 Some plastic materials such as PVC become brittle due to loss of plasticizers or to molecular breakdown of the polymer. Polypropylene and its copolymers tend to beco...
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1.1 This practice indicates how to test the oxidative degradation characteristics of plastics that degrade in the environment under atmospheric pressure and thermal and humidity simulations, only, in the absence of any selected disposal environment such as soil, landfill, or compost. This practice does not by any extension or extrapolation of data or results generated indicate that such plastics are suitable for or will degrade on disposal in these said environments. It is particularly noted that in real world environments such as soil, compost and landfill oxidations, if they occur, will predominantly be under conditions where other interfering ingredients are present and, in the case of landfill, at sub-atmospheric oxygen concentrations. This practice, therefore, can only result in a relative ordering of the potential for oxidation of plastic materials under the conditions tested, which are not always reflective of their behavior in a particular real world disposal systems. Prediction of the oxidation of a plastic under real world disposal conditions is an essential further testing in appropriate methodologies, such as Test Method D5338 for composting. No claims can be made for real world behavior based on this practice.  
1.2 This practice is only intended to define the exposure conditions of plastics at various temperatures in air at atmospheric pressure under controlled humidity levels for extended periods of time. The humidity levels and temperature ranges are selected to be within the variable recorded seasonal ranges (upper and lower levels) generally observed in disposal sites where such plastics are discarded. For example: soil (15 to 40 percent moisture); landfill (35 to 60 percent moisture), and compost (45 to 70 percent moisture). It is optional to expose the plastic at zero humidity, if comparison with specified humidity ranges is of interest. Only the procedures for heat and humidity exposures are specifi...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Decomposition of a plastic within a landfill involves biological processes that will affect the decomposition of other materials enclosed by, or in close proximity to, the plastic. Rapid degradation of the plastic has the ability to increase the economic feasibility of landfill-gas recovery, minimize the duration of after-care of the landfill, and make possible the recovery of the volume reduction of the waste due to biodegradation during the active life of the landfill. This procedure has been developed to permit determination of the anaerobic biodegradability of plastic products when placed in biologically active environments simulating landfill conditions.  
5.2 As degradation occurs inevitably in a landfill, it is of immediate concern that the plastic materials do not produce toxic metabolites or end products under the various conditions that have the potential to occur in a landfill. The mixtures remaining after completion of the test method, containing fully or partially degraded plastic materials or extracts, can be submitted subsequently to ecotoxicity testing in order to assess the environmental hazards posed by the breakdown of plastics to varying degrees in landfills. This test method has been designed to assess biodegradation under optimum and less-than-optimum conditions.  
5.3 Limitations—Because a wide variation exists in the construction and operation of landfills, and because regulatory requirements for landfills vary greatly, this procedure is not intended to simulate the environment of all landfills. However, it is expected to closely resemble the environment of a biologically active landfill. More specifically, the procedure is intended to create a standard laboratory environment that permits rapid and reproducible determination of the anaerobic biodegradability under accelerated landfill conditions, while at the same time producing reproducible mixtures of fully and partially decomposed household waste with plastic materials for ecotoxicol...
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1.1 This test method covers determination of the degree and rate of anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in an accelerated-landfill test environment. This test method is also designed to produce mixtures of household waste and plastic materials after different degrees of decomposition under conditions that resemble landfill conditions. The test materials are mixed with pretreated household waste and exposed to a methanogenic inoculum derived from anaerobic digesters operating only on pretreated household waste. The anaerobic decomposition occurs under dry (more than 30 % total solids) and static nonmixed conditions. The mixtures obtained after this test method can be used to assess the environmental and health risks of plastic materials that are degraded in a landfill.  
1.2 This test method is designed to yield a percentage of conversion of carbon in the sample to carbon in the gaseous form under conditions that resemble landfill conditions. It is possible that this test method will not simulate all conditions found in landfills, especially biologically inactive landfills. This test method more closely resembles those types of landfills in which the gas generated is recovered or even actively promoted, or both, for example, by inoculation (codeposition of anaerobic sewage sludge and anaerobic leachate recirculation), moisture control in the landfill (leachate recirculation), and temperature control (short-term injection of oxygen and heating of recirculated leachate) (1-7).2  
1.3 This test method is designed to produce partially degraded mixtures of municipal solid waste and plastics that can be used to assess the ecotoxicological risks associated with the anaerobic degradation of plastics after various stages of anaerobic biodegradation in a landfill.  
1.4 Claims of performance shall be limited to the numerical result obtained in the test and not be used for unqualified “biodegradable” claims. Reports sha...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 The degree and rate of aerobic biodegradability of a plastic material in the environment determines the extent to which and time period over which plastic materials are mineralized by soil microorganisms. Disposal is becoming a major issue with the increasing use of plastics, and the results of this test method permit an estimation of the degree of biodegradability and the time period over which plastics will remain in an aerobic soil environment. This test method determines the degree of aerobic biodegradation by measuring evolved carbon dioxide as a function of time that the plastic is exposed to soil.  
5.2 Soil is an extremely species-rich source of inoculum for evaluation of the biodegradability of plastics in the environment. When maintained appropriately with regard to moisture content and oxygen availability, the biological activity is quite considerable, although lower than other biologically active environments, such as activated sewage-sludge or compost.
SCOPE
1.1 This test method covers determination under laboratory conditions of the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials, including formulation additives, in contact with soil.  
1.2 This test method is designed to measure the biodegradability of plastic materials relative to a reference material in an aerobic environment.  
1.3 This test method is designed to be applicable to all plastic materials that are not inhibitory to the bacteria and fungi present in soil.  
1.4 Claims of performance shall be limited to the numerical result obtained in the test and not be used for unqualified “biodegradable” claims. Reports shall clearly state the percentage of net gaseous carbon generation for both the test and reference samples at the completion of the test. Results shall not be extrapolated beyond the actual duration of the test.  
1.5 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.  
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. A specific hazard statement is given in Section 8.  
1.7 This ASTM test method is equivalent to ISO 17556.  
1.8 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Biodegradation of a plastic within a high-solids anaerobic digestion unit is an important phenomenon because it will affect the decomposition of other waste materials enclosed by the plastic and the resulting quality and appearance of the digestate after an anaerobic digestion process. Biodegradation of plastics could allow for the safe disposal of these plastics through aerobic and anaerobic solid-waste-treatment plants. This procedure has been developed to permit the determination of the rate and degree of anaerobic biodegradability of plastic products when placed in a high-solids anaerobic digester for the production of digestate from municipal solid waste.  
5.2 Limitations—Because there is a wide variation in the construction and operation of anaerobic-digestion systems and because regulatory requirements for composting systems vary, this procedure is not intended to simulate the environment of any particular high-solids anaerobic-digestion system. However, it is expected to resemble the environment of a high-solids anaerobic-digestion process operated under optimum conditions. More specifically, the procedure is intended to create a standard laboratory environment that will permit a rapid and reproducible determination of the anaerobic biodegradability under high-solids digestion conditions.
SCOPE
1.1 This test method covers the determination of the degree and rate of anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in high-solids anaerobic conditions. The test materials are exposed to a methanogenic inoculum derived from anaerobic digesters operating only on pretreated household waste. The anaerobic decomposition takes place under high-solids (more than 30 % total solids) and static non-mixed conditions.  
1.2 This test method is designed to yield a percentage of conversion of carbon in the sample to carbon in the gaseous form under conditions found in high-solids anaerobic digesters, treating municipal solid waste (1, 2, 3, 4).2 This test method may also resemble some conditions in biologically active landfills where the gas generated is recovered and biogas production is actively promoted by inoculation (for example, codeposition of anaerobic sewage sludge, anaerobic leachate recirculation), moisture control (for example, leachate recirculation), and temperature control (for example, short-term injection of oxygen, heating of recirculated leachate) (5, 6, 7).  
1.3 This test method is designed to be applicable to all plastic materials that are not inhibitory to the microorganisms present in anaerobic digesters operating on household waste.  
1.4 Claims of performance shall be limited to the numerical result obtained in the test and not be used for unqualified “biodegradable” claims. Reports shall clearly state the percentage of net gaseous carbon generation for both the test and reference samples at the completion of the test. Furthermore, results shall not be extrapolated past the actual duration of the test.  
1.5 The values given in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.  
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Specific hazards are given in Section 8.  
Note 1: This test method is equivalent to ISO 15985.  
1.7 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

ABSTRACT
This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities. The properties in this specification are those required to determine if plastics and products made from plastics will compost satisfactorily, including biodegrading at a rate comparable to known compostable materials. The purpose of this specification is to establish standards for identifying products and materials that will compost satisfactorily in commercial and municipal composting facilities.
SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted under aerobic conditions in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities, where thermophilic conditions are achieved.  
1.2 This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of materials and products, including packaging made from plastics, as “compostable in aerobic municipal and industrial composting facilities.”  
1.3 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if end items (including packaging), which use plastics and polymers as coatings or binders will compost satisfactorily, in large scale aerobic municipal or industrial composting facilities. Maximum throughput is a high priority to composters and the intermediate stages of plastic disintegration and biodegradation not be visible to the end user for aesthetic reasons.  
1.4 The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1: This test method is equivalent to ISO 17088.  
1.5 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 This testing method provides accurate biobased/biogenic carbon content results to materials whose carbon source was directly in equilibrium with CO2 in the atmosphere at the time of cessation of respiration or metabolism, such as the harvesting of a crop or grass living its natural life in a field. Special considerations are needed to apply the testing method to materials originating from within artificial environments. Application of these testing methods to materials derived from CO2 uptake within artificial environments is beyond the present scope of this standard.  
4.2 Method B utilizes AMS along with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product. Instrumental error can be within 0.1-0.5 % (1 relative standard deviation (RSD)), but controlled studies identify an inter-laboratory total uncertainty up to ±3 % (absolute). This error is exclusive of indeterminate sources of error in the origin of the biobased content (see Section 22 on precision and bias).  
4.3 Method C uses LSC techniques to quantify the biobased content of a product using sample carbon that has been converted to benzene. This test method determines the biobased content of a sample with a maximum total error of ±3 % (absolute), as does Method B.  
4.4 The test methods described here directly discriminate between product carbon resulting from contemporary carbon input and that derived from fossil-based input. A measurement of a product’s 14C/12C or 14C/13C content is determined relative to a carbon based modern reference material accepted by the radiocarbon dating community such as NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM) 4990C, (referred to as OXII or HOxII). It is compositionally related directly to the original oxalic acid radiocarbon standard SRM 4990B (referred to as OXI or HOxI), and is denoted in terms of fM, that is, the sample’s fraction of modern carbon. (See Terminology, Section 3.)  
4.5 Reference standards, available to all...
SCOPE
1.1 This standard is a test method that teaches how to experimentally measure biobased carbon content of solids, liquids, and gaseous samples using radiocarbon analysis. These test methods do not address environmental impact, product performance and functionality, determination of geographical origin, or assignment of required amounts of biobased carbon necessary for compliance with federal laws.  
1.2 These test methods are applicable to any product containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. The overall analytical method is also applicable to gaseous samples, including flue gases from electrical utility boilers and waste incinerators.  
1.3 These test methods make no attempt to teach the basic principles of the instrumentation used although minimum requirements for instrument selection are referenced in the References section. However, the preparation of samples for the above test methods is described. No details of instrument operation are included here. These are best obtained from the manufacturer of the specific instrument in use.  
1.4 Limitation—This standard is applicable to laboratories working without exposure to artificial carbon-14 (14C). Artificial 14C is routinely used in biomedical studies by both liquid scintillation counter (LSC) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratories and can exist within the laboratory at levels 1,000 times or more than 100 % biobased materials and 100,000 times more than 1% biobased materials. Once in the laboratory, artificial 14C can become undetectably ubiquitous on door knobs, pens, desk tops, and other surfaces but which may randomly contaminate an unknown sample producing inaccurately high biobased results. Despite vigorous attempts to clean up contaminating artificial 14C from a laboratory, isolation has proven to be the only successful method of avoidance. Completely separate chemical ...

ABSTRACT
This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities. The properties in this specification are those required to determine if plastics and products made from plastics will compost satisfactorily, including biodegrading at a rate comparable to known compostable materials. The purpose of this specification is to establish standards for identifying products and materials that will compost satisfactorily in commercial and municipal composting facilities.
SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted under aerobic conditions in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities, where thermophilic conditions are achieved.  
1.2 This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of materials and products, including packaging made from plastics, as “compostable in aerobic municipal and industrial composting facilities.”  
1.3 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if end items (including packaging), which use plastics and polymers as coatings or binders will compost satisfactorily, in large scale aerobic municipal or industrial composting facilities. Maximum throughput is a high priority to composters and the intermediate stages of plastic disintegration and biodegradation not be visible to the end user for aesthetic reasons.  
1.4 The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1: This test method is equivalent to ISO 17088.  
1.5 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 This testing method provides accurate biobased/biogenic carbon content results to materials whose carbon source was directly in equilibrium with CO2 in the atmosphere at the time of cessation of respiration or metabolism, such as the harvesting of a crop or grass living its natural life in a field. Special considerations are needed to apply the testing method to materials originating from within artificial environments. Application of these testing methods to materials derived from CO2 uptake within artificial environments is beyond the present scope of this standard.  
4.2 Method B utilizes AMS along with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product. Instrumental error can be within 0.1-0.5 % (1 relative standard deviation (RSD)), but controlled studies identify an inter-laboratory total uncertainty up to ±3 % (absolute). This error is exclusive of indeterminate sources of error in the origin of the biobased content (see Section 22 on precision and bias).  
4.3 Method C uses LSC techniques to quantify the biobased content of a product using sample carbon that has been converted to benzene. This test method determines the biobased content of a sample with a maximum total error of ±3 % (absolute), as does Method B.  
4.4 The test methods described here directly discriminate between product carbon resulting from contemporary carbon input and that derived from fossil-based input. A measurement of a product’s 14C/12C or 14C/13C content is determined relative to a carbon based modern reference material accepted by the radiocarbon dating community such as NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM) 4990C, (referred to as OXII or HOxII). It is compositionally related directly to the original oxalic acid radiocarbon standard SRM 4990B (referred to as OXI or HOxI), and is denoted in terms of fM, that is, the sample’s fraction of modern carbon. (See Terminology, Section 3.)  
4.5 Reference standards, available to all...
SCOPE
1.1 This standard is a test method that teaches how to experimentally measure biobased carbon content of solids, liquids, and gaseous samples using radiocarbon analysis. These test methods do not address environmental impact, product performance and functionality, determination of geographical origin, or assignment of required amounts of biobased carbon necessary for compliance with federal laws.  
1.2 These test methods are applicable to any product containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. The overall analytical method is also applicable to gaseous samples, including flue gases from electrical utility boilers and waste incinerators.  
1.3 These test methods make no attempt to teach the basic principles of the instrumentation used although minimum requirements for instrument selection are referenced in the References section. However, the preparation of samples for the above test methods is described. No details of instrument operation are included here. These are best obtained from the manufacturer of the specific instrument in use.  
1.4 Limitation—This standard is applicable to laboratories working without exposure to artificial carbon-14 (14C). Artificial 14C is routinely used in biomedical studies by both liquid scintillation counter (LSC) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratories and can exist within the laboratory at levels 1,000 times or more than 100 % biobased materials and 100,000 times more than 1% biobased materials. Once in the laboratory, artificial 14C can become undetectably ubiquitous on door knobs, pens, desk tops, and other surfaces but which may randomly contaminate an unknown sample producing inaccurately high biobased results. Despite vigorous attempts to clean up contaminating artificial 14C from a laboratory, isolation has proven to be the only successful method of avoidance. Completely separate chemical ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 This testing method provides accurate biobased/biogenic carbon content results to materials whose carbon source was directly in equilibrium with CO2 in the atmosphere at the time of cessation of respiration or metabolism, such as the harvesting of a crop or grass living its natural life in a field. Special considerations are needed to apply the testing method to materials originating from within artificial environments. Application of these testing methods to materials derived from CO2 uptake within artificial environments is beyond the present scope of this standard.  
4.2 Method B utilizes AMS along with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product. Instrumental error can be within 0.1-0.5 % (1 relative standard deviation (RSD)), but controlled studies identify an inter-laboratory total uncertainty up to ±3 % (absolute). This error is exclusive of indeterminate sources of error in the origin of the biobased content (see Section 22 on precision and bias).  
4.3 Method C uses LSC techniques to quantify the biobased content of a product using sample carbon that has been converted to benzene. This test method determines the biobased content of a sample with a maximum total error of ±3 % (absolute), as does Method B.  
4.4 The test methods described here directly discriminate between product carbon resulting from contemporary carbon input and that derived from fossil-based input. A measurement of a product’s 14C/12C or 14C/13C content is determined relative to a carbon based modern reference material accepted by the radiocarbon dating community such as NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM) 4990C, (referred to as OXII or HOxII). It is compositionally related directly to the original oxalic acid radiocarbon standard SRM 4990B (referred to as OXI or HOxI), and is denoted in terms of fM, that is, the sample’s fraction of modern carbon. (See Terminology, Section 3.)  
4.5 Reference standards, available to all...
SCOPE
1.1 This standard is a test method that teaches how to experimentally measure biobased carbon content of solids, liquids, and gaseous samples using radiocarbon analysis. These test methods do not address environmental impact, product performance and functionality, determination of geographical origin, or assignment of required amounts of biobased carbon necessary for compliance with federal laws.  
1.2 These test methods are applicable to any product containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. The overall analytical method is also applicable to gaseous samples, including flue gases from electrical utility boilers and waste incinerators.  
1.3 These test methods make no attempt to teach the basic principles of the instrumentation used although minimum requirements for instrument selection are referenced in the References section. However, the preparation of samples for the above test methods is described. No details of instrument operation are included here. These are best obtained from the manufacturer of the specific instrument in use.  
1.4 Limitation—This standard is applicable to laboratories working without exposure to artificial carbon-14 (14C). Artificial 14C is routinely used in biomedical studies by both liquid scintillation counter (LSC) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratories and can exist within the laboratory at levels 1,000 times or more than 100 % biobased materials and 100,000 times more than 1% biobased materials. Once in the laboratory, artificial 14C can become undetectably ubiquitous on door knobs, pens, desk tops, and other surfaces but which may randomly contaminate an unknown sample producing inaccurately high biobased results. Despite vigorous attempts to clean up contaminating artificial 14C from a laboratory, isolation has proven to be the only successful method of avoidance. Completely separate chemical ...

ABSTRACT
This specification establishes the requirements for labelling of materials and products (including packaging), wherein a biodegradable plastic film or coating is attached (either through lamination or extrusion directly onto the paper) to compostable substrates and the entire product or package is designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities. This specification, however, does not describe the contents of the product or their performance with regards to compostability or biodegradability. In order to compost satisfactorily, the product must demonstrate each of the three characteristics as follows: (1) proper disintegration during composting; (2) adequate level of inherent biodegradation; and (3) no adverse impacts on the ability of composts to support plant growth.
SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers end items that include plastics or polymers where plastic film/ sheet or polymers are incorporated (either through lamination, extrusion or mixing) to substrates and the entire end item is designed to be composted under aerobic conditions in municipal and industrial composting facilities, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved.  
1.2 This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of end items which use plastics or polymers as coatings or binders, as “compostable in aerobic municipal and industrial composting facilities.”  
1.3 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if end items (including packaging) which use plastics and polymers as coatings or binders will compost satisfactorily, in large scale aerobic municipal or industrial composting where maximum throughput is a high priority and where intermediate stages of plastic biodegradation must not be visible to the end user for aesthetic reasons.  
1.4 The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1: There is no known ISO equivalent for this standard.  
1.5 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

ABSTRACT
This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities. The properties in this specification are those required to determine if plastics and products made from plastics will compost satisfactorily, including biodegrading at a rate comparable to known compostable materials. The purpose of this specification is to establish standards for identifying products and materials that will compost satisfactorily in commercial and municipal composting facilities.
SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted under aerobic conditions in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities, where thermophilic conditions are achieved.  
1.2 This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of materials and products, including packaging made from plastics, as “compostable in aerobic municipal and industrial composting facilities.”  
1.3 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if end items (including packaging), which use plastics and polymers as coatings or binders will compost satisfactorily, in large scale aerobic municipal or industrial composting facilities. Maximum throughput is a high priority to composters and the intermediate stages of plastic disintegration and biodegradation not be visible to the end user for aesthetic reasons.  
1.4 The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1: This test method is equivalent to ISO 17088.  
1.5 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Since the correlation between the conditions specified in this practice and actual disposal environments (for example, composting, soil or landfill) has not been determined or established, the test results are to be used only for comparative and ranking purposes in the laboratory. No extrapolation to real world disposal expectations or predictions are to be made from results obtained by this procedure. Real world evaluations and correlations are needed for such claims.  
4.2 Degradable plastics exposed to heat and humidity are subject to many types of physical and chemical changes. The severity of the exposures in both time, temperature and humidity level, determines the extent and type of change that occurs. For example, short exposure times at elevated temperatures generally serve to shorten the induction period of oxidatively degradable plastics during which the depletion of antioxidants and stabilizers occurs. Physical properties, such as tensile and impact strength and elongation and modulus, sometimes change during this induction period; however, these changes are generally not due to molecular-weight degradation, but are merely a temperature-dependent response, such as increased crystallinity or loss of volatile material, or both. The effects of humidity are less well understood and are more difficult to predict and depend on the degradable plastics characteristics such as hydrophilicity, polarity and composition.  
4.3 Generally, short exposures at elevated temperatures drive out volatiles such as moisture, solvents, or plasticizers; relieve molding stresses; advance the cure of thermosets; increase crystallinity; and cause some change in color of the plastic or coloring agent, or both. Normally, additional shrinkage is expected with a loss of volatiles or advance in polymerization.  
4.4 Some plastic materials such as PVC become brittle due to loss of plasticizers or to molecular breakdown of the polymer. Polypropylene and its copolymers tend to beco...
SCOPE
1.1 This practice indicates how to test the oxidative degradation characteristics of plastics that degrade in the environment under atmospheric pressure and thermal and humidity simulations, only, in the absence of any selected disposal environment such as soil, landfill, or compost. This practice does not by any extension or extrapolation of data or results generated indicate that such plastics are suitable for or will degrade on disposal in these said environments. It is particularly noted that in real world environments such as soil, compost and landfill oxidations, if they occur, will predominantly be under conditions where other interfering ingredients are present and, in the case of landfill, at sub-atmospheric oxygen concentrations. This practice, therefore, can only result in a relative ordering of the potential for oxidation of plastic materials under the conditions tested, which are not always reflective of their behavior in a particular real world disposal systems. Prediction of the oxidation of a plastic under real world disposal conditions is an essential further testing in appropriate methodologies, such as Test Method D5338 for composting. No claims can be made for real world behavior based on this practice.  
1.2 This practice is only intended to define the exposure conditions of plastics at various temperatures in air at atmospheric pressure under controlled humidity levels for extended periods of time. The humidity levels and temperature ranges are selected to be within the variable recorded seasonal ranges (upper and lower levels) generally observed in disposal sites where such plastics are discarded. For example: soil (15 to 40 percent moisture); landfill (35 to 60 percent moisture), and compost (45 to 70 percent moisture). It is optional to expose the plastic at zero humidity, if comparison with specified humidity ranges is of interest. Only the procedures for heat and humidity exposures are specifi...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 This guide is a sequential assembly of extant but unconnected standard tests and practices for the oxidation and biodegradation of plastics, which will permit the comparison and ranking of the overall rate of environmental degradation of plastics that require thermal or photooxidation to initiate degradation. Each degradation stage is independently evaluated to allow a combined evaluation of a polymer’s environmental performance under a controlled laboratory setting. This enables a laboratory assessment of its disposal performance in, soil, compost, landfill, and water and for use in agricultural products such as mulch film without detriment to that particular environment.
Note 5: For determining biodegradation rates under composting conditions, Specification D6400 is to be used, including test methods and conditions as specified.  
5.2 The correlation of results from this guide to actual disposal environments (for example, agricultural mulch films, composting, or landfill applications) has not been determined, and as such, the results should be used only for comparative and ranking purposes.  
5.3 The results of laboratory exposure cannot be directly extrapolated to estimate absolute rate of deterioration by the environment because the acceleration factor is material dependent and can be significantly different for each material and for different formulations of the same material. However, exposure of a similar material of known outdoor performance, a control, at the same time as the test specimens allows comparison of the durability relative to that of the control under the test conditions.
SCOPE
1.1 This guide provides a framework or road map to compare and rank the controlled laboratory rates of degradation and degree of physical property losses of polymers by thermal and photooxidation processes as well as the biodegradation and ecological impacts in defined applications and disposal environments after degradation. Disposal environments range from exposure in soil, landfill, and compost in which thermal oxidation may occur and land cover and agricultural use in which photooxidation may also occur.  
1.2 In this guide, established ASTM International standards are used in three tiers for accelerating and measuring the loss in properties and molecular weight by both thermal and photooxidation processes and other abiotic processes (Tier 1), measuring biodegradation (Tier 2), and assessing ecological impact of the products from these processes (Tier 3).  
1.3 The Tier 1 conditions selected for thermal oxidation and photooxidation accelerate the degradation likely to occur in a chosen application and disposal environment. The conditions should include a range of humidity or water concentrations based on the application and disposal environment in mind. The measured rate of degradation at typical oxidation temperatures is required to compare and rank the polymers being evaluated in that chosen application to reach a molecular weight that constitutes a demonstrable biodegradable residue (using ASTM International biometer tests for CO2 evolution appropriate to the chosen environment). By way of example, accelerated oxidation data must be obtained at temperatures and humidity ranges typical in that chosen application and disposal environment, for example, in soil (20 to 30°C), landfill (20 to 35°C), and composting facilities (30 to 65°C). For applications in soils, local temperatures and humidity ranges must be considered as they vary widely with geography. At least one temperature must be reasonably close to the end use or disposal temperature, but under no circumstances should this be more than 20°C away from the removed that temperature. It must also be established that the polymer does not undergo a phase change, such as glass transition temperature (Tg) within the temperature range of testing.  
1.4 The residues resulting from the oxidations are then exposed to appropriate disposa...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 This testing method provides accurate biobased/biogenic carbon content results to materials whose carbon source was directly in equilibrium with CO2 in the atmosphere at the time of cessation of respiration or metabolism, such as the harvesting of a crop or grass living its natural life in a field. Special considerations are needed to apply the testing method to materials originating from within artificial environments. Application of these testing methods to materials derived from CO2 uptake within artificial environments is beyond the present scope of this standard.  
4.2 Method B utilizes AMS along with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product. Instrumental error can be within 0.1-0.5 % (1 relative standard deviation (RSD)), but controlled studies identify an inter-laboratory total uncertainty up to ±3 % (absolute). This error is exclusive of indeterminate sources of error in the origin of the biobased content (see Section 22 on precision and bias).  
4.3 Method C uses LSC techniques to quantify the biobased content of a product using sample carbon that has been converted to benzene. This test method determines the biobased content of a sample with a maximum total error of ±3 % (absolute), as does Method B.  
4.4 The test methods described here directly discriminate between product carbon resulting from contemporary carbon input and that derived from fossil-based input. A measurement of a product’s 14C/12C or 14C/13C content is determined relative to a carbon based modern reference material accepted by the radiocarbon dating community such as NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM) 4990C, (referred to as OXII or HOxII). It is compositionally related directly to the original oxalic acid radiocarbon standard SRM 4990B (referred to as OXI or HOxI), and is denoted in terms of fM, that is, the sample’s fraction of modern carbon. (See Terminology, Section 3.)  
4.5 Reference standards, available to all...
SCOPE
1.1 This standard is a test method that teaches how to experimentally measure biobased carbon content of solids, liquids, and gaseous samples using radiocarbon analysis. These test methods do not address environmental impact, product performance and functionality, determination of geographical origin, or assignment of required amounts of biobased carbon necessary for compliance with federal laws.  
1.2 These test methods are applicable to any product containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. The overall analytical method is also applicable to gaseous samples, including flue gases from electrical utility boilers and waste incinerators.  
1.3 These test methods make no attempt to teach the basic principles of the instrumentation used although minimum requirements for instrument selection are referenced in the References section. However, the preparation of samples for the above test methods is described. No details of instrument operation are included here. These are best obtained from the manufacturer of the specific instrument in use.  
1.4 Limitation—This standard is applicable to laboratories working without exposure to artificial carbon-14 (14C). Artificial 14C is routinely used in biomedical studies by both liquid scintillation counter (LSC) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratories and can exist within the laboratory at levels 1,000 times or more than 100 % biobased materials and 100,000 times more than 1% biobased materials. Once in the laboratory, artificial 14C can become undetectably ubiquitous on door knobs, pens, desk tops, and other surfaces but which may randomly contaminate an unknown sample producing inaccurately high biobased results. Despite vigorous attempts to clean up contaminating artificial 14C from a laboratory, isolation has proven to be the only successful method of avoidance. Completely separate chemical ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 The use of plastics aboard ships is on the rise and the use of the sea as a trash dumping site is no longer a possibility; consequently, the disposal of plastic materials while at sea remains a major issue. It is possible that biodegradable plastics will help to allay public concern by allowing for the safe disposal of plastic materials at sea. This test method has been developed to assess the rate and degree of aerobic biodegradation of plastics exposed to marine microorganisms. Aerobic biodegradation is determined by measuring the amount of biogas (carbon dioxide) produced during such an exposure.  
5.2 It is acceptable to use the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradability of a plastic under the conditions of this test method to estimate the persistence of that plastic in biologically active marine environments, for example, seashore and open-ocean. However, it shall be recognized that predicting long-term environmental fate and effects from the results of short-term exposure to a simulated marine environment is difficult. Thus, caution shall be exercised when extrapolating the results obtained from this or any other controlled-environment test to disposal in the natural environment.
SCOPE
1.1 This test method is used to determine the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials (including formulation additives) exposed to pre-grown population of at least ten aerobic marine microorganisms of known genera or the indigenous population existing in natural seawater. The test method is conducted under controlled laboratory conditions.  
1.2 This test method is designed to index polymer materials that are possibly biodegradable, relative to a positive reference material, in an aerobic environment.  
1.3 This test method is applicable to all polymer materials containing at least 20 % carbon that are not inhibitory to the microorganisms present in a marine environment.  
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.  
1.5 There is no known ISO equivalent to this standard.  
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.  
1.7 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

ABSTRACT
This specification establishes the requirements for labelling of materials and products (including packaging), wherein a biodegradable plastic film or coating is attached (either through lamination or extrusion directly onto the paper) to compostable substrates and the entire product or package is designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities. This specification, however, does not describe the contents of the product or their performance with regards to compostability or biodegradability. In order to compost satisfactorily, the product must demonstrate each of the three characteristics as follows: (1) proper disintegration during composting; (2) adequate level of inherent biodegradation; and (3) no adverse impacts on the ability of composts to support plant growth.
SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers end items that include plastics or polymers where plastic film/ sheet or polymers are incorporated (either through lamination, extrusion or mixing) to substrates and the entire end item is designed to be composted under aerobic conditions in municipal and industrial composting facilities, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved.  
1.2 This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of end items which use plastics or polymers as coatings or binders, as “compostable in aerobic municipal and industrial composting facilities.”  
1.3 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if end items (including packaging) which use plastics and polymers as coatings or binders will compost satisfactorily, in large scale aerobic municipal or industrial composting where maximum throughput is a high priority and where intermediate stages of plastic biodegradation should not be visible to the end user for aesthetic reasons.  
1.4 The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate health and safety practices and to determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1: There is no known ISO equivalent for this standard.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 This testing method provides accurate biobased/biogenic carbon content results to materials whose carbon source was directly in equilibrium with CO2 in the atmosphere at the time of cessation of respiration or metabolism, such as the harvesting of a crop or grass living its natural life in a field. Special considerations are needed to apply the testing method to materials originating from within artificial environments. Application of these testing methods to materials derived from CO2 uptake within artificial environments is beyond the present scope of this standard.  
4.2 Method B utilizes AMS along with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product. Instrumental error can be within 0.1-0.5 % (1 relative standard deviation (RSD)), but controlled studies identify an inter-laboratory total uncertainty up to ±3 % (absolute). This error is exclusive of indeterminate sources of error in the origin of the biobased content (see Section 22 on precision and bias).  
4.3 Method C uses LSC techniques to quantify the biobased content of a product using sample carbon that has been converted to benzene. This test method determines the biobased content of a sample with a maximum total error of ±3 % (absolute), as does Method B.  
4.4 The test methods described here directly discriminate between product carbon resulting from contemporary carbon input and that derived from fossil-based input. A measurement of a product’s 14C/12C or 14C/13C content is determined relative to a carbon based modern reference material accepted by the radiocarbon dating community such as NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM) 4990C, (referred to as OXII or HOxII). It is compositionally related directly to the original oxalic acid radiocarbon standard SRM 4990B (referred to as OXI or HOxI), and is denoted in terms of fM, that is, the sample’s fraction of modern carbon. (See Terminology, Section 3.)  
4.5 Reference standards, available to all...
SCOPE
1.1 This standard is a test method that teaches how to experimentally measure biobased carbon content of solids, liquids, and gaseous samples using radiocarbon analysis. These test methods do not address environmental impact, product performance and functionality, determination of geographical origin, or assignment of required amounts of biobased carbon necessary for compliance with federal laws.  
1.2 These test methods are applicable to any product containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. The overall analytical method is also applicable to gaseous samples, including flue gases from electrical utility boilers and waste incinerators.  
1.3 These test methods make no attempt to teach the basic principles of the instrumentation used although minimum requirements for instrument selection are referenced in the References section. However, the preparation of samples for the above test methods is described. No details of instrument operation are included here. These are best obtained from the manufacturer of the specific instrument in use.  
1.4 Limitation—This standard is applicable to laboratories working without exposure to artificial carbon-14 (14C). Artificial 14C is routinely used in biomedical studies by both liquid scintillation counter (LSC) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratories and can exist within the laboratory at levels 1,000 times or more than 100 % biobased materials and 100,000 times more than 1% biobased materials. Once in the laboratory, artificial 14C can become undetectably ubiquitous on door knobs, pens, desk tops, and other surfaces but which may randomly contaminate an unknown sample producing inaccurately high biobased results. Despite vigorous attempts to clean up contaminating artificial 14C from a laboratory, isolation has proven to be the only successful method of avoidance. Completely separate chemical ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Plastic is sometimes carried by rivers or accidentally discharged by ships into the sea; this plastic can then reach different parts of the marine environment. Tides and waves also frequently deliver plastic marine debris into the sandy tidal zones.  
5.2 This test method simulates the environmental conditions found in the tidal zone. Plastic debris that reaches the sandy tidal zone can settle there and become partially or totally buried by sand and kept wet by waves or tides. It is of interest to assess the biodegradation behavior of plastic materials under these conditions to predict the removal time of this waste in the environment.  
5.3 This test method is applied to determine the extent of biodegradation of a plastic exposed in the laboratory to a sandy sediment kept wet with seawater. Both sediment and seawater are collected from a sandy beach in the tidal zone. If the natural microbial population present in the sediment is able to biodegrade the plastic, there will be an evolution of CO2 as a consequence of the aerobic microbial respiration. The level of biodegradation at any given time is the ratio between the cumulative amount of the evolved net carbon dioxide and the theoretical amount produced in the case of total conversion of the organic carbon present in the plastic into carbon dioxide.  
5.4 This test method does not measure the amount of organic carbon that is converted into biomass, but only the biodegradation that leads to mineralization (that is, the formation of CO2).
SCOPE
1.1 This test method determines the biodegradation level of plastic materials exposed to laboratory conditions that simulate the environment found in the sandy tidal zone.  
1.2 The tidal zone, that is, the part of the coast affected by the tides and movement of the waves, is the borderline between sea and land, frequently a sandy area that is kept constantly damp by the lapping of the waves. Stony and rocky shorelines also exist.  
1.3 Plastic marine debris is frequently washed up in this habitat where it must be removed in order to restore the original landscape.  
1.4 It is of interest to know the biodegradation behavior of plastics when exposed to conditions simulating this habitat, because this information can help in predicting the time needed for the biodegradation of the litter.  
1.5 Biodegradation is determined by measuring the CO2 evolved by the plastic material when exposed to a sediment kept wet with salt-water in a reactor, to simulate the tidal zone.  
1.6 Marine fresh-water habitats (for example, those found in brackish waters and estuaries) are not considered by this standard.  
1.7 Reports shall clearly state the percentage of net CO2 generation for both the test and reference samples at the completion of the test. Furthermore, in the laboratory reports, the results shall not be extrapolated beyond the actual duration of the test.  
Note 1: There is no known ISO equivalent to this standard.  
1.8 Units—The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.  
1.9 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 Biodegradation of a plastic within a composting unit is an important phenomenon because it may affect the decomposition of other materials enclosed by the plastic and the resulting quality and appearance of the composted material. Biodegradation of plastics will also allow the safe disposal of these plastics through large, professionally-managed composting plants and well-run residential units, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved. This procedure has been developed to permit the determination of the rate and degree of aerobic biodegradability of plastic products when placed in a controlled composting process.  
5.2 Limitations—Because there is a wide variation in the construction and operation of composting facilities and because regulatory requirements for composting systems vary, this procedure is not intended to simulate the environment of any particular composting system. However, it is expected to resemble the environment of a composting process operated under optimum conditions where thermophilic temperatures are achieved. More specifically, the procedure is intended to create a standard laboratory environment that will permit a rapid and reproducible determination of the aerobic biodegradability under controlled composting conditions.
SCOPE
1.1 This test method determines the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials on exposure to a controlled-composting environment under laboratory conditions, at thermophilic temperatures. This test method is designed to yield reproducible and repeatable test results under controlled conditions that resemble composting conditions, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved. The test substances are exposed to an inoculum that is derived from compost from municipal solid waste. The aerobic composting takes place in an environment where temperature, aeration and humidity are closely monitored and controlled.  
Note 1: During composting, thermophilic temperatures are most readily achieved in large-scale, professionally-managed facilities. However, these temperatures may also be reached in smaller residential composting units, frequently referred to as “backyard” or “home” composting.  
1.2 This test method is designed to yield a percentage of conversion of carbon in the sample to carbon dioxide. The rate of biodegradation is monitored as well.  
1.3 This test method is designed to be applicable to all plastic materials, which are intended to be composted in facilities that achieve thermophilic temperatures.  
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.  
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Specific hazard statements are given in Section 8.  
1.6 This test method is equivalent to ISO 14855.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Materials made from photodegradable plastics are intended to show relatively rapid deterioration of chemical, physical, and mechanical properties when exposed to light, heat, and water after fulfilling their intended purpose. This practice is intended to induce property changes associated with conditions that might be experienced when the material is discarded as litter, including the effects of sunlight, moisture, and heat. The exposure used in this practice is not intended to simulate the deterioration caused by localized weather phenomena such as atmospheric pollution, biological attack, and salt water exposure.  
4.2 Cautions—Variation in results can be expected when operating conditions are varied within the accepted limits of this practice. Therefore, no reference to the use of this practice shall be made unless accompanied by a report prepared in accordance with Section 9 that describes the specific operating conditions used. Refer to Practice G151 for detailed information on the caveats applicable to use of results obtained in accordance with this practice.Note 2—Additional information on sources of variability and on strategies for addressing variability in the design, execution and data analysis of laboratory accelerated exposure tests is found in Guide G141.  
4.3 Exposure of a similar material of known performance (a control) at the same time as the test specimens provides a standard for comparative purposes. Use of a control to rank the stability of test materials greatly improves agreement between different laboratories.3,4 It is recommended that at least three replicates of each material evaluated be exposed to allow for statistical evaluation of results.  
4.4 Test results will depend upon the care that is taken to operate the equipment in accordance with Practice G154. Significant factors include regulation of line voltage, temperature of the room in which the device operates, temperature control, and condition and age of the lamps, if exposu...
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1.1 This practice covers the specific procedures applicable for fluorescent Ultraviolet (UV) exposure of photodegradable plastics conducted in accordance with Practices G151 and G154. This practice also covers the preparation of test specimens and the evaluation of test results.  
1.2 Practice D4329 covers fluorescent UV exposures of plastics intended for long term use in outdoor applications.  
1.3 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. The values given in parentheses are for information only.  
1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Note 1—There is no known ISO equivalent to this standard.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Materials made from photodegradable plastics are intended to deteriorate rapidly when exposed to solar radiation, oxygen, heat, moisture and other degrading elements of the weather. This practice is used for evaluating the photodegradability of plastics when exposed in an apparatus that produces simulated daylight (1,2)6 and controlled temperature and moisture. The exposure used in this practice is not intended to simulate the deterioration caused by localized weather phenomena such as atmospheric pollution, biological attack, and salt water exposure. There can be no positive correlation of exposure results between this and other laboratory weathering devices.  
4.2 Variations in results can be expected when operating conditions are varied within the accepted limits of this practice. Therefore, all test results using this practice must be accompanied by the specific operating conditions required in Section 9. Refer to Practice G151 for detailed information on the caveats applicable to use of results obtained in accordance with this practice.  
4.3 The results of laboratory exposure cannot be directly extrapolated to estimate absolute rate of deterioration by the environment because the acceleration factor is material dependent and can be significantly different for each material and for different formulations of the same material. However, exposure of a similar material of known outdoor performance, a control, at the same time as the test specimens allows comparison of the durability relative to that of the control under the test conditions. Evaluation in terms of relative durabilities also greatly improves the agreement in test results among different laboratories (3).  
4.4 Test results will depend on the care that is taken to operate the equipment in accordance with Practice G155. Significant factors include regulation of line voltage, freedom from salt or other deposits from water, temperature and humidity control and condition and age of the burners and ...
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1.1 This practice covers specific procedures and test conditions that are applicable for xenon arc exposure of photodegradable plastics conducted in accordance with Practices G151 and G155. This practice also covers the preparation of test specimens, the test conditions best suited for photodegradable plastics, and the evaluation of test results.  
1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.Note 1—This practice is technically equivalent to ISO 4892-2 and Practice D2565 which cover xenon arc exposures of plastics intended for long term use in outdoor applications.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 When discarded as litter, articles made using photodegradable plastics are subject to attack by daylight (particularly solar-ultraviolet radiation), oxygen, heat, and water. The 5° exposure angle used in this practice represents typical conditions for degradation experienced by litter.  
4.2 This practice requires characterization of the duration of exposure in terms of solar-ultraviolet radiation. Solar-ultraviolet radiation varies considerably as a function of location and time of year. This can cause dramatic differences in the time required to produce a specified level of degradation in a polymer. Daro4 has shown that when the same lot of polyethylene containing an iron-salt prodegradant is exposed at various times of the year in a single location, the time required to produce an average of two chain scissions per molecule varied by over 130 %. Daro, and Zerlaut and Anderson5 have shown that this variability can be significantly reduced when total solar or solar-ultraviolet radiation, or both, is used to characterize the exposure increments.  
4.3 In addition to variations in level of daylight and solar-ultraviolet radiation, there are significant differences in temperature, and moisture stresses between different locations, and between different years, or periods within a single year, at a single location. Because of this variability, results from this test cannot be used to predict the absolute rate at which photodegradable plastics degrade. Results from this test can be used to compare relative rates of degradation for materials exposed at the same time in the same location. Results from multiple exposures of a common lot of material (during different seasons over several years) at different sites can be used to compare the relative rates at which a particular photodegradable plastic will degrade in each location.Note 2—An inherent limitation in solar-radiation measurements is that they do not reflect the effects of variations in temperature and moistu...
SCOPE
1.1 This practice defines test conditions applicable when Practices D1435 and G7 are employed for the outdoor exposure testing of photodegradable plastics.  
1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Note 1—There is no known ISO equivalent to this standard.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 The tensile elongation property determined by this practice is of value for the characterization of degradable materials. The tensile elongation property may vary with specimen thickness, method of preparation, speed of testing, type of grips used, and manner of measuring test extension. Consequently, where precise comparative results are desired, these factors must be carefully controlled.  
4.2 The tensile elongation property may be utilized to provide data for research and development and engineering design as well as quality control specifications. However, data from such tests cannot be considered significant for applications differing widely from the load-time scale of the test employed.  
4.3 Materials that fail by tearing give anomalous data that cannot be compared with those from normal failure.  
4.4 Before proceeding with this test method, reference should be made to the specifications of the material being tested. Any test specimen preparation, conditioning, dimensions, or testing parameters or a combination thereof, covered in the material specifications shall take precedence over those mentioned in this test method. If there are no material specifications, then the default conditions apply.
SCOPE
1.1 This practice covers the determination of a degradation-end point (a brittle point) for degradable polyethylene/polypropylene films and sheeting less than 1.0 mm (0.04 in.) thick. This practice is not intended for determination of the rate of degree of degradation of a polyethylene/polypropylene film or sheet, but rather, to assess when in the course of its degradation under some condition, a brittle point is reached. If one wishes to monitor tensile elongation during the degradation process (such as when the tensile elongation is significantly greater than 5 %), Test Method D882 is recommended. This practice should not be considered the only way of determining a degradation-end point.  
1.2 Tensile properties of plastics 1.0 mm (0.04 in.) or greater in thickness shall be determined in accordance with Test Method D638.  
1.3 Use a static weighing-constant rate of grip separation test. This procedure employs a constant rate of separation of the grips holding the sample and a static load cell. Note 1—This procedure is based on the use of grip separation as a measure of extension; however, the desirability of using extension indicators accurate to ±1.0 % or better as specified in Test Method D638 is recognized, and a provision for the use of such instrumentation is incorporated in the procedure.  
1.4 This procedure has been successful for determining the degradation end point of ethylene-carbon-monoxide copolymers and has screened successfully two other additive-type polyethylenes in a round robin test.  
1.5 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values in parentheses are for information only.  
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.  
1.7 There is no equivalent ISO standard.

SCOPE
1.1 This guide provides a framework for collecting and handling samples for determination of biobased content of materials by means of the carbon isotope method described in Test Methods D 6866. Tests for sampling adequacy based on the standard statistical tools are provided. In addition, reporting of the results, including sampling techniques and handling procedures and chain-of-custody issues are discussed.
1.2 This guide is concerned with collecting representative samples within a given material or a lot, not with lot-to-lot variations such as considered in quality control schemes.
1.3 Biobased materials often represent sampling problems specific to a given material, such as heterogeneity, and so forth, which require employment of material-specific sampling methods. The use of specialized sampling methods already accepted and validated by industries that manufacture and/or use the biomaterial is encouraged. However, all sampling techniques, especially non-standard techniques developed for specific materials must be reported in sufficient detail to allow critical assessment of the techniques used.
1.4 Carbon isotope analysis involves thermal processing in presence of oxidants. Compatibility of any given material with Test Methods D 6866 must be assessed. Special attention must be given to materials with potential for explosion hazards, such as peroxides, nitrated compounds, azides, and so forth. Examples of peroxide-forming compounds are ethers, some ketones and a number of other compounds.
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory requirements prior to use.
Note 1—There is no similar or equivalent ISO standard.
WITHDRAWN RATIONALE
This guide provided a framework for collecting and handling samples for determination of biobased content of materials by means of the carbon isotope method described in Test Methods . Tests for sampling adequacy based on the standard statistical tools were provided. In addition, reporting of the results, including sampling techniques and handling procedures and chain-of-custody issues were discussed.
Formerly under the jurisdiction of Committee D20 on Plastics, this guide was withdrawn in January 2013 in accordance with section 10.6.3.1 of the Regulations Governing ASTM Technical Committees, which requires that standards shall be updated by the end of the eighth year since the last approval date.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1 This guide is a sequential assembly of extant but unconnected standard tests and practices for the oxidation and biodegradation of plastics, which will permit the comparison and ranking of the overall rate of environmental degradation of plastics that require thermal or photooxidation to initiate degradation. Each degradation stage is independently evaluated to allow a combined evaluation of a polymer’s environmental performance under a controlled laboratory setting. This enables a laboratory assessment of its disposal performance in, soil, compost, landfill, and water and for use in agricultural products such as mulch film without detriment to that particular environment.Note 5—For determining biodegradation rates under composting conditions, Specification D6400 is to be used, including test methods and conditions as specified.  
5.2 The correlation of results from this guide to actual disposal environments (for example, agricultural mulch films, composting, or landfill applications) has not been determined, and as such, the results should be used only for comparative and ranking purposes.  
5.3 The results of laboratory exposure cannot be directly extrapolated to estimate absolute rate of deterioration by the environment because the acceleration factor is material dependent and can be significantly different for each material and for different formulations of the same material. However, exposure of a similar material of known outdoor performance, a control, at the same time as the test specimens allows comparison of the durability relative to that of the control under the test conditions.
SCOPE
1.1 This guide provides a framework or road map to compare and rank the controlled laboratory rates of degradation and degree of physical property losses of polymers by thermal and photooxidation processes as well as the biodegradation and ecological impacts in defined applications and disposal environments after degradation. Disposal environments range from exposure in soil, landfill, and compost in which thermal oxidation may occur and land cover and agricultural use in which photooxidation may also occur.  
1.2 In this guide, established ASTM International standards are used in three tiers for accelerating and measuring the loss in properties and molecular weight by both thermal and photooxidation processes and other abiotic processes (Tier 1), measuring biodegradation (Tier 2), and assessing ecological impact of the products from these processes (Tier 3).  
1.3 The Tier 1 conditions selected for thermal oxidation and photooxidation accelerate the degradation likely to occur in a chosen application and disposal environment. The conditions should include a range of humidity or water concentrations based on the application and disposal environment in mind. The measured rate of degradation at typical oxidation temperatures is required to compare and rank the polymers being evaluated in that chosen application to reach a molecular weight that constitutes a demonstrable biodegradable residue (using ASTM International biometer tests for CO2 evolution appropriate to the chosen environment). By way of example, accelerated oxidation data must be obtained at temperatures and humidity ranges typical in that chosen application and disposal environment, for example, in soil (20 to 30°C), landfill (20 to 35°C), and composting facilities (30 to 65°C). For applications in soils, local temperatures and humidity ranges must be considered as they vary widely with geography. At least one temperature must be reasonably close to the end use or disposal temperature, but under no circumstances should this be more than 20°C away from the removed that temperature. It must also be established that the polymer does not undergo a phase change, such as glass transition temperature (Tg) within the temperature range of testing.  
1.4 The residues resulting from the oxidations are then exposed to appropriate disposal o...

ABSTRACT
This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities. The properties in this specification are those required to determine if plastics and products made from plastics will compost satisfactorily, including biodegrading at a rate comparable to known compostable materials. The purpose of this specification is to establish standards for identifying products and materials that will compost satisfactorily in commercial and municipal composting facilities.
SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted under aerobic conditions in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities, where thermophilic conditions are achieved.
1.2 This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of materials and products, including packaging made from plastics, as “compostable in aerobic municipal and industrial composting facilities.”
1.3 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if end items (including packaging), which use plastics and polymers as coatings or binders will compost satisfactorily, in large scale aerobic municipal or industrial composting facilities. Maximum throughput is a high priority to composters and the intermediate stages of plastic disintegration and biodegradation not be visible to the end user for aesthetic reasons.
1.4 The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard:  This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate health and safety practices and to determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1—This test method is equivalent to ISO 17088.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Decomposition of a plastic within a landfill involves biological processes that will affect the decomposition of other materials enclosed by, or in close proximity to, the plastic. Rapid degradation of the plastic has the ability to increase the economic feasibility of landfill-gas recovery, minimize the duration of after-care of the landfill, and make possible the recovery of the volume reduction of the waste due to biodegradation during the active life of the landfill. This procedure has been developed to permit determination of the anaerobic biodegradability of plastic products when placed in biologically active environments simulating landfill conditions.
As degradation occurs inevitably in a landfill, it is of immediate concern that the plastic materials do not produce toxic metabolites or end products under the various conditions that have the potential to occur in a landfill. The mixtures remaining after completion of the test method, containing fully or partially degraded plastic materials or extracts, can be submitted subsequently to ecotoxicity testing in order to assess the environmental hazards posed by the breakdown of plastics to varying degrees in landfills. This test method has been designed to assess biodegradation under optimum and less-than-optimum conditions.
Limitations—Because a wide variation exists in the construction and operation of landfills, and because regulatory requirements for landfills vary greatly, this procedure is not intended to simulate the environment of all landfills. However, it is expected to closely resemble the environment of a biologically active landfill. More specifically, the procedure is intended to create a standard laboratory environment that permits rapid and reproducible determination of the anaerobic biodegradability under accelerated landfill conditions, while at the same time producing reproducible mixtures of fully and partially decomposed household waste with plastic materials for ecotoxicological assessm...
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1.1 This test method covers determination of the degree and rate of anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in an accelerated-landfill test environment. This test method is also designed to produce mixtures of household waste and plastic materials after different degrees of decomposition under conditions that resemble landfill conditions. The test materials are mixed with pretreated household waste and exposed to a methanogenic inoculum derived from anaerobic digesters operating only on pretreated household waste. The anaerobic decomposition occurs under dry (more than 30 % total solids) and static nonmixed conditions. The mixtures obtained after this test method can be used to assess the environmental and health risks of plastic materials that are degraded in a landfill.
1.2 This test method is designed to yield a percentage of conversion of carbon in the sample to carbon in the gaseous form under conditions that resemble landfill conditions. It is possible that this test method will not simulate all conditions found in landfills, especially biologically inactive landfills. This test method more closely resembles those types of landfills in which the gas generated is recovered or even actively promoted, or both, for example, by inoculation (codeposition of anaerobic sewage sludge and anaerobic leachate recirculation), moisture control in the landfill (leachate recirculation), and temperature control (short-term injection of oxygen and heating of recirculated leachate) (1-7).  
1.3 This test method is designed to produce partially degraded mixtures of municipal solid waste and plastics that can be used to assess the ecotoxicological risks associated with the anaerobic degradation of plastics after various stages of anaerobic biodegradation in a landfill.
1.4 Claims of performance shall be limited to the numerical result obtained in the test and not be used for unqualified “biodegradable” claims. Reports shall ...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
The degree and rate of aerobic biodegradability of a plastic material in the environment determines the extent to which and time period over which plastic materials are mineralized by soil microorganisms. Disposal is becoming a major issue with the increasing use of plastics, and the results of this test method permit an estimation of the degree of biodegradability and the time period over which plastics will remain in an aerobic soil environment. This test method determines the degree of aerobic biodegradation by measuring evolved carbon dioxide as a function of time that the plastic is exposed to soil.
Soil is an extremely species-rich source of inoculum for evaluation of the biodegradability of plastics in the environment. When maintained appropriately with regard to moisture content and oxygen availability, the biological activity is quite considerable, although lower than other biologically active environments, such as activated sewage-sludge or compost.
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1.1 This test method covers determination under laboratory conditions of the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials, including formulation additives, in contact with soil.
1.2 This test method is designed to measure the biodegradability of plastic materials relative to a reference material in an aerobic environment.
1.3 This test method is designed to be applicable to all plastic materials that are not inhibitory to the bacteria and fungi present in soil.
1.4 Claims of performance shall be limited to the numerical result obtained in the test and not be used for unqualified “biodegradable” claims. Reports shall clearly state the percentage of net gaseous carbon generation for both the test and reference samples at the completion of the test. Results shall not be extrapolated beyond the actual duration of the test.
1.5 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. A specific hazard statement is given in Section 8.  
1.7 This ASTM test method is equivalent to ISO 17556.

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1.1 This test method is used to determine the weight loss as a function of time of non-floating plastic materials (including formulation additives), when incubated under changing, open, marine aquarium conditions, which is representative of aquatic environments near the coasts and near the bottom of a body of water in the absence of sunlight, particularly UV and visible portions of the spectrum. The goal of this test is to obtain data that will predict real world experiences based on the extent and rate of biodegradation data of the same materials obtained from the laboratory Test Method D6691. The aquarium incubated films are examined for visual degradation and dry weight loss over time. This test is not a replacement to Test Method D6691, but rather an additional ASTM method for weight attrition. The standard addresses weight loss of the plastics in a marine environment and cannot be used for demonstrating biodegradation for which Specification D7081 needs to be used.
1.2 Plastic film pieces of known size and thickness are used at levels so as not to exceed the availability of micronutrients essential for and therefore limit the microbial biodegradation process.
1.3 The aquarium incubation test method allows representative indigenous microorganisms present in seawater and marine sediment to be enriched for and carry out the biodegradation. It is recommended that the test be carried out in the geographical vicinity (latitudinal area) where the test film is likely to be used and potentially disposed of in the marine environment if biodegradable criteria are met. These Aquarium studies are conducted in indoor environments, hence any sunlight-induced effects on degradation, or biodegradation, or both, are not taken into account.
1.4 Prior to conducting this aquarium test method (weight loss data) for the verification of biodegradability, Test Method D6691 shall be run on the same materials to establish quantitative levels of the plastic organic carbon oxidation and levels of carbon dioxide recovered there from. If Test Method D6691 achieves 30 % mineralization, then apply this Aquarium test and perform it. If the results from Test Method D6691 do not achieve 30 % mineralization, then aquarium incubation testing need not be done and the material shall be considered non-biodegradable in the marine environment.
1.5 This test by itself shall not be used as the basis for claims, such as “Biodegradable in Marine Environments” since it is only a weight loss test method.
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1—There is no known ISO equivalent to this standard.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Biodegradation of a plastic within a high-solids anaerobic digestion unit is an important phenomenon because it will affect the decomposition of other waste materials enclosed by the plastic and the resulting quality and appearance of the digestate after an anaerobic digestion process. Biodegradation of plastics could allow for the safe disposal of these plastics through aerobic and anaerobic solid-waste-treatment plants. This procedure has been developed to permit the determination of the rate and degree of anaerobic biodegradability of plastic products when placed in a high-solids anaerobic digester for the production of digestate from municipal solid waste.
Limitations—Because there is a wide variation in the construction and operation of anaerobic-digestion systems and because regulatory requirements for composting systems vary, this procedure is not intended to simulate the environment of any particular high-solids anaerobic-digestion system. However, it is expected to resemble the environment of a high-solids anaerobic-digestion process operated under optimum conditions. More specifically, the procedure is intended to create a standard laboratory environment that will permit a rapid and reproducible determination of the anaerobic biodegradability under high-solids digestion conditions.
SCOPE
1.1 This test method covers the determination of the degree and rate of anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in high-solids anaerobic conditions. The test materials are exposed to a methanogenic inoculum derived from anaerobic digesters operating only on pretreated household waste. The anaerobic decomposition takes place under high-solids (more than 30 % total solids) and static non-mixed conditions.
1.2 This test method is designed to yield a percentage of conversion of carbon in the sample to carbon in the gaseous form under conditions found in high-solids anaerobic digesters, treating municipal solid waste (1, 2, 3, 4). This test method may also resemble some conditions in biologically active landfills where the gas generated is recovered and biogas production is actively promoted by inoculation (for example, codeposition of anaerobic sewage sludge, anaerobic leachate recirculation), moisture control (for example, leachate recirculation), and temperature control (for example, short-term injection of oxygen, heating of recirculated leachate) (5, 6, 7).
1.3 This test method is designed to be applicable to all plastic materials that are not inhibitory to the microorganisms present in anaerobic digesters operating on household waste.
1.4 Claims of performance shall be limited to the numerical result obtained in the test and not be used for unqualified “biodegradable” claims. Reports shall clearly state the percentage of net gaseous carbon generation for both the test and reference samples at the completion of the test. Furthermore, results shall not be extrapolated past the actual duration of the test.
1.5 The values given in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Specific hazards are given in Section 8.  
Note 1—This test method is equivalent to ISO 15985.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Presidential (Executive) Orders 13101, 13123, 13134, Public Laws (106-224), AG ACT 2003 and other Legislative Actions all require Federal Agencies to develop procedures to identify, encourage and produce products derived from biobased, renewable, sustainable and low environmental impact resources so as to promote the Market Development Infrastructure necessary to induce greater use of such resources in commercial, non food, products. Section 1501 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58) and EPA 40 CFR Part 80 (Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard Requirements for 2006) require petroleum distributors to add renewable ethanol to domestically sold gasoline to promote the nation's growing renewable economy, with requirements to identify and trace origin.
Method B utilizes Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) along with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product. Intsrumental error can be within 0.1-0.5 % (1 rsd), but empirical studies identify a total uncertainty up to ±3 % (absolute) inclusive of indeterminant sources of error in the final biobased content result. Sample preparation methods include the production of CO2 within a vacuum manifold system where it is ultimately distilled, quantified in a calibrated volume, transferred to a quartz tube, and torch sealed. Details are given in 8.7-8.10. The stored CO2 is then delivered to an AMS facility for final processing and analysis.
Method C uses LSC techniques to quantify the biobased content of a product using sample carbon that has been converted to benzene. This test method determines the biobased content of a sample with a maximum total error of ±3 % (absolute), as does Method B.
The test methods described here directly discriminate between product carbon resulting from contemporary carbon input and that derived from fossil-based input. A measurement of a product’s 14C/12C content is determined relative to the mod...
SCOPE
1.1 These test methods do not address environmental impact, product performance and functionality, determination of geographical origin, or assignment of required amounts of biobased carbon necessary for compliance with federal laws.
1.2 These test methods are applicable to any product containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. The overall analytical method is also applicable to gaseous samples, including flue gases from electrical utility boilers and waste incinerators.
1.3 These test methods make no attempt to teach the basic principles of the instrumentation used although minimum requirements for instrument selection are referenced in the References section. However, the preparation of samples for the above test methods is described. No details of instrument operation are included here. These are best obtained from the manufacturer of the specific instrument in use.
1.4 Currently, there are no ISO test methods that are equivalent to the test methods outlined in this standard.
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Presidential (Executive) Orders 13101, 13123, 13134, Public Laws (106-224), AG ACT 2003 and other Legislative Actions all require Federal Agencies to develop procedures to identify, encourage and produce products derived from biobased, renewable, sustainable and low environmental impact resources so as to promote the Market Development Infrastructure necessary to induce greater use of such resources in commercial, non food, products. Section 1501 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58) and EPA 40 CFR Part 80 (Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard Requirements for 2006) require petroleum distributors to add renewable ethanol to domestically sold gasoline to promote the nation's growing renewable economy, with requirements to identify and trace origin.
Method B utilizes Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) along with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product. Intsrumental error can be within 0.1-0.5 % (1 rsd), but empirical studies identify a total uncertainty up to ±3 % (absolute) inclusive of indeterminant sources of error in the final biobased content result. Sample preparation methods include the production of CO2 within a vacuum manifold system where it is ultimately distilled, quantified in a calibrated volume, transferred to a quartz tube, and torch sealed. Details are given in 8.7-8.10. The stored CO2 is then delivered to an AMS facility for final processing and analysis.
Method C uses LSC techniques to quantify the biobased content of a product using sample carbon that has been converted to benzene. This test method determines the biobased content of a sample with a maximum total error of ±3 % (absolute), as does Method B.
The test methods described here directly discriminate between product carbon resulting from contemporary carbon input and that derived from fossil-based input. A measurement of a product’s 14C/12C content is determined relative to the mod...
SCOPE
1.1 These test methods do not address environmental impact, product performance and functionality, determination of geographical origin, or assignment of required amounts of biobased carbon necessary for compliance with federal laws.
1.2 These test methods are applicable to any product containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. The overall analytical method is also applicable to gaseous samples, including flue gases from electrical utility boilers and waste incinerators.
1.3 These test methods make no attempt to teach the basic principles of the instrumentation used although minimum requirements for instrument selection are referenced in the References section. However, the preparation of samples for the above test methods is described. No details of instrument operation are included here. These are best obtained from the manufacturer of the specific instrument in use.
1.4 Currently, there are no ISO test methods that are equivalent to the test methods outlined in this standard.
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Biodegradation of a plastic within a composting unit is an important phenomenon because it may affect the decomposition of other materials enclosed by the plastic and the resulting quality and appearance of the composted material. Biodegradation of plastics will also allow the safe disposal of these plastics through large, professionally-managed composting plants and well-run residential units, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved. This procedure has been developed to permit the determination of the rate and degree of aerobic biodegradability of plastic products when placed in a controlled composting process.  
Limitations—Because there is a wide variation in the construction and operation of composting facilities and because regulatory requirements for composting systems vary, this procedure is not intended to simulate the environment of any particular composting system. However, it is expected to resemble the environment of a composting process operated under optimum conditions where thermophilic temperatures are achieved. More specifically, the procedure is intended to create a standard laboratory environment that will permit a rapid and reproducible determination of the aerobic biodegradability under controlled composting conditions.
SCOPE
1.1 This test method determines the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials on exposure to a controlled-composting environment under laboratory conditions, at thermophilic temperatures. This test method is designed to yield reproducible and repeatable test results under controlled conditions that resemble composting conditions, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved. The test substances are exposed to an inoculum that is derived from compost from municipal solid waste. The aerobic composting takes place in an environment where temperature, aeration and humidity are closely monitored and controlled.  
Note 1—During composting, thermophilic temperatures are most readily achieved in large-scale, professionally-managed facilities. However, these temperatures may also be reached in smaller residential composting units, frequently referred to as “backyard” or “home” composting.
1.2 This test method is designed to yield a percentage of conversion of carbon in the sample to carbon dioxide. The rate of biodegradation is monitored as well.  
1.3 This test method is designed to be applicable to all plastic materials, which are intended to be composted in facilities that achieve thermophilic temperatures.
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.  
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Specific hazard statements are given in Section 8.  
1.6 This test method is equivalent to ISO 14855.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Since the correlation between the conditions specified in this practice and actual disposal environments (for example, composting, soil or landfill) has not been determined or established, the test results are to be used only for comparative and ranking purposes in the laboratory. No extrapolation to real world disposal expectations or predictions are to be made from results obtained by this procedure. Real world evaluations and correlations are needed for such claims.
Degradable plastics exposed to heat and humidity are subject to many types of physical and chemical changes. The severity of the exposures in both time, temperature and humidity level, determines the extent and type of change that occurs. For example, short exposure times at elevated temperatures generally serve to shorten the induction period of oxidatively degradable plastics during which the depletion of antioxidants and stabilizers occurs. Physical properties, such as tensile and impact strength and elongation and modulus, sometimes change during this induction period; however, these changes are generally not due to molecular-weight degradation, but are merely a temperature-dependent response, such as increased crystallinity or loss of volatile material, or both. The effects of humidity are less well understood and are more difficult to predict and depend on the degradable plastics characteristics such as hydrophilicity, polarity and composition.
Generally, short exposures at elevated temperatures drive out volatiles such as moisture, solvents, or plasticizers; relieve molding stresses; advance the cure of thermosets; increase crystallinity; and cause some change in color of the plastic or coloring agent, or both. Normally, additional shrinkage is expected with a loss of volatiles or advance in polymerization.
Some plastic materials such as PVC become brittle due to loss of plasticizers or to molecular breakdown of the polymer. Polypropylene and its copolymers tend to become very brittle as ...
SCOPE
1.1 This practice indicates how to test the oxidative degradation characteristics of plastics that degrade in the environment under atmospheric pressure and thermal and humidity simulations, only, in the absence of any selected disposal environment such as soil, landfill, or compost. This practice does not by any extension or extrapolation of data or results generated indicate that such plastics are suitable for or will degrade on disposal in these said environments. It is particularly noted that in real world environments such as soil, compost and landfill oxidations, if they occur, will predominantly be under conditions where other interfering ingredients are present and, in the case of landfill, at sub-atmospheric oxygen concentrations. This practice, therefore, can only result in a relative ordering of the potential for oxidation of plastic materials under the conditions tested, which are not always reflective of their behavior in a particular real world disposal systems. Prediction of the oxidation of a plastic under real world disposal conditions is an essential further testing in appropriate methodologies, such as Test Method D5338 for composting. No claims can be made for real world behavior based on this practice.
1.2 This practice is only intended to define the exposure conditions of plastics at various temperatures in air at atmospheric pressure under controlled humidity levels for extended periods of time. The humidity levels and temperature ranges are selected to be within the variable recorded seasonal ranges (upper and lower levels) generally observed in disposal sites where such plastics are discarded. For example: soil (15 to 40 percent moisture); landfill (35 to 60 percent moisture), and compost (45 to 70 percent moisture). It is optional to expose the plastic at zero humidity, if comparison with specified humidity ranges is of interest. Only the procedures for heat and humidity exposures are specifie...

ABSTRACT
This specification establishes the requirements for labelling of materials and products (including packaging), wherein a biodegradable plastic film or coating is attached (either through lamination or extrusion directly onto the paper) to compostable substrates and the entire product or package is designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities. This specification, however, does not describe the contents of the product or their performance with regards to compostability or biodegradability. In order to compost satisfactorily, the product must demonstrate each of the three characteristics as follows: (1) proper disintegration during composting; (2) adequate level of inherent biodegradation; and (3) no adverse impacts on the ability of composts to support plant growth.
SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers end items that include plastics or polymers where plastic film/ sheet or polymers are incorporated (either through lamination, extrusion or mixing) to substrates and the entire end item is designed to be composted under aerobic conditions in municipal and industrial composting facilities, where thermophilic temperatures are achieved.
1.2 This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of end items which use plastics or polymers as coatings or binders, as “compostable in aerobic municipal and industrial composting facilities.”
1.3 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if end items (including packaging) which use plastics and polymers as coatings or binders will compost satisfactorily, in large scale aerobic municipal or industrial composting where maximum throughput is a high priority and where intermediate stages of plastic biodegradation should not be visible to the end user for aesthetic reasons.
1.4 The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate health and safety practices and to determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
Note 1—There is no known ISO equivalent for this standard.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Decomposition of a plastic within a landfill involves biological processes that will affect the decomposition of other materials enclosed by, or in close proximity to, the plastic. Rapid degradation of the plastic has the ability to increase the economic feasibility of landfill-gas recovery, minimize the duration of after-care of the landfill, and make possible the recovery of the volume reduction of the waste due to biodegradation during the active life of the landfill. This procedure has been developed to permit determination of the anaerobic biodegradability of plastic products when placed in biologically active environments simulating landfill conditions.
As degradation occurs inevitably in a landfill, it is of immediate concern that the plastic materials do not produce toxic metabolites or end products under the various conditions that have the potential to occur in a landfill. The mixtures remaining after completion of the test method, containing fully or partially degraded plastic materials or extracts, can be submitted subsequently to ecotoxicity testing in order to assess the environmental hazards posed by the breakdown of plastics to varying degrees in landfills. This test method has been designed to assess biodegradation under optimum and less-than-optimum conditions.
Limitations—Because a wide variation exists in the construction and operation of landfills, and because regulatory requirements for landfills vary greatly, this procedure is not intended to simulate the environment of all landfills. However, it is expected to closely resemble the environment of a biologically active landfill. More specifically, the procedure is intended to create a standard laboratory environment that permits rapid and reproducible determination of the anaerobic biodegradability under accelerated landfill conditions, while at the same time producing reproducible mixtures of fully and partially decomposed household waste with plastic materials for ecotoxicological assessm...
SCOPE
1.1 This test method covers determination of the degree and rate of anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in an accelerated-landfill test environment. This test method is also designed to produce mixtures of household waste and plastic materials after different degrees of decomposition under conditions that resemble landfill conditions. The test materials are mixed with pretreated household waste and exposed to a methanogenic inoculum derived from anaerobic digesters operating only on pretreated household waste. The anaerobic decomposition occurs under dry (more than 30 % total solids) and static nonmixed conditions. The mixtures obtained after this test method can be used to assess the environmental and health risks of plastic materials that are degraded in a landfill.
1.2 This test method is designed to yield a percentage of conversion of carbon in the sample to carbon in the gaseous form under conditions that resemble landfill conditions. It is possible that this test method will not simulate all conditions found in landfills, especially biologically inactive landfills. This test method more closely resembles those types of landfills in which the gas generated is recovered or even actively promoted, or both, for example, by inoculation (codeposition of anaerobic sewage sludge and anaerobic leachate recirculation), moisture control in the landfill (leachate recirculation), and temperature control (short-term injection of oxygen and heating of recirculated leachate) (1-7).  
1.3 This test method is designed to produce partially degraded mixtures of municipal solid waste and plastics that can be used to assess the ecotoxicological risks associated with the anaerobic degradation of plastics after various stages of anaerobic biodegradation in a landfill.
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, asso...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Biodegradation of a plastic within a high-solids anaerobic digestion unit is an important phenomenon because it will affect the decomposition of other waste materials enclosed by the plastic and the resulting quality and appearance of the compost after an anaerobic digestion process. Biodegradation of plastics could allow for the safe disposal of these plastics through aerobic and anaerobic solid-waste-treatment plants. This procedure has been developed to permit the determination of the rate and degree of anaerobic biodegradability of plastic products when placed in a high-solids anaerobic digester for the production of compost from municipal solid waste.
Limitations—Because there is a wide variation in the construction and operation of anaerobic-digestion systems and because regulatory requirements for composting systems vary, this procedure is not intended to simulate the environment of any particular high-solids anaerobic-digestion system. However, it is expected to resemble the environment of a high-solids anaerobic-digestion process operated under optimum conditions. More specifically, the procedure is intended to create a standard laboratory environment that will permit a rapid and reproducible determination of the anaerobic biodegradability under high-solids digestion conditions.
SCOPE
1.1 This test method covers the determination of the degree and rate of anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in high-solids anaerobic conditions. The test materials are exposed to a methanogenic inoculum derived from anaerobic digesters operating only on pretreated household waste. The anaerobic decomposition takes place under high-solids (more than 30 % total solids) and static non-mixed conditions.
1.2 This test method is designed to yield a percentage of conversion of carbon in the sample to carbon in the gaseous form under conditions found in high-solids anaerobic digesters, treating municipal solid waste (1, 2, 3, 4). This test method also resembles other anaerobic conditions where the gas generated is recovered and biogas production is actively promoted by inoculation (for example, codeposition of anaerobic sewage sludge, anaerobic leachate recirculation), moisture control (for example, leachate recirculation), and temperature control (for example, short-term injection of oxygen, heating of recirculated leachate) (5, 6, 7).
1.3 This test method is designed to be applicable to all plastic materials that are not inhibitory to the microorganisms present in anaerobic digesters operating on household waste.
1.4 Claims of performance shall be limited to the numerical result obtained in the test and not be used for unqualified “biodegradable” claims. Reports shall clearly state the percentage of net gaseous carbon generation for both the test and reference samples at the completion of the test. Furthermore, results shall not be extrapolated past the actual duration of the test.
1.5 The values given in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Specific hazards are given in Section 8.  
Note 1—This test method is equivalent to ISO 15985.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Decomposition of a plastic within a landfill involves processes in aerobic and anaerobic environmental conditions that can affect the decomposition of other materials enclosed by or in close proximity to the plastic. The rate of change from aerobic to anaerobic conditions is probably a characteristic of the particular landfill site, its garbage and the filling technique and is therefore difficult to assess with any degree of accuracy. Different sources indicate days to months (Refs (8) and (9)) for this change with the spread dependent on the perspective of what is aerobic or anaerobic and how fast the environment changes, 30 days is chosen in this method as a compromise time period. (Note, even very low levels of oxygen, far below normal atmospheric concentration can promote oxidative degradation). Obviously, there will be pockets of protected (in bags, cans, etc.) aerobic activity enclosed in any landfill. There is currently no evidence or data to support claims that rapid degradation of the plastic (when compared to conventional non-degradable plastic) can increase the economic feasibility of landfill-gas recovery, minimize the duration of after-care of the landfill, and make possible the recovery of the volume reduction of the waste due to degradation and biodegradation during the active life of the landfill. Additionally, it is possible that the rapid degradation and biodegradation of plastics can create hazardous conditions in landfills, such as the shifting of cells and overall stability. This standard method has been developed to permit determination of the aerobic degradation and anaerobic biodegradation of plastic products when placed in biologically active environments simulating some landfill conditions.
The decomposition of plastic materials in a landfill is of importance, as most landfills are biologically active and are an increasingly significant source of renewable energy. As degradation occurs in a landfill, it is of immediate concern that the pl...
SCOPE
1.1 This modification of Test Method D5526, which only considered anaerobic degradation, is used to determine the degree and rate of aerobic degradation (as indicated by loss of tensile strength, molecular weight, possibly resulting in disintegration and fragmentation) and anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in an accelerated bioreactor landfill test environment. It simulates the change from aerobic to anaerobic environments over time as landfill depth increases. Plastic materials found in landfills include discarded plastic products such as bags and wrappers and also deliberately applied plastic covers as inter-layer sealers between daily refuse fills to prevent windblown scatter of garbage overnight or at other down times. This modification is a two-tiered test method in which the two tiers, which address aerobic degradation and anaerobic biodegradation, are most preferably run sequentially to more closely resemble the real world condition of a biologically active landfill, or a bioreactor landfill, but are functional independently and separately depending on the plastic under evaluation and the information sought: either aerobic degradation or anaerobic biodegradation or both. The tiered system approach is shown schematically in Fig. 1. In Tier 1, the test plastic material is mixed with household waste, then pretreated and stabilized aerobically in the presence of air, in a sealed vessel in a temperature range that is consistent with the average temperature range of those recorded for landfills for a time period of four weeks. The tier is an accelerated simulation of degradation with concomitant oxygen consumption and depletion with time as if oxidative degradation proceeds. In Tier 2 samples of the plastic materials pretreated aerobically as described in Tier 1, are exposed to a methanogenic inoculum derived from anaerobic digesters operating only on pretreated household waste. The anaerobic decomposition a...

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
Presidential (Executive) Orders 13101, 13123, 13134, Public Laws (106-224), AG ACT 2003 and other Legislative Actions all require Federal Agencies to develop procedures to identify, encourage and produce products derived from biobased, renewable, sustainable and low environmental impact resources so as to promote the Market Development Infrastructure necessary to induce greater use of such resources in commercial, non food, products. Section 1501 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58) and EPA 40 CFR Part 80 (Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard Requirements for 2006) require petroleum distributors to add renewable ethanol to domestically sold gasoline to promote the nation's growing renewable economy, with requirements to identify and trace origin.
Method A utilizes Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC) radiocarbon (14C) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product with maximum total error of 15 % count, which is associated with sample preparation and actual counting. This test method is based on LSC analysis of CO2 cocktails after collecting the CO2 in a suitable absorbing solution.
Method B utilizes Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques to quantify the biobased content of a given product with possible uncertainties of 1 to 2 % and 0.1 to 0.5 %, respectively. Sample preparation methods are identical to Method A, 8.2–8.5. Method B diverges after 8.5 and rather than LSC analysis the sample CO2 remains within the vacuum manifold and is distilled, quantified in a calibrated volume, transferred to a quartz tube, torch sealed. Details are given in 12.7-12.10. The stored CO2 is then delivered to an AMS facility for final processing and analysis.
Method C uses LSC techniques to quantify the biobased content of a product. However, whereas Method A uses LSC analysis of CO2 cocktails, Method C uses LSC analysis of sample carbon that has been converted to benzene....
SCOPE
1.1 These test methods do not address environmental impact, product performance and functionality, determination of geographical origin, or assignment of required amounts of biobased carbon necessary for compliance with federal laws.
1.2 These test methods are applicable to any product containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. The overall analytical method is also applicable to gaseous samples, including flue gases from electrical utility boilers and waste incinerators.
1.3 These test methods make no attempt to teach the basic principles of the instrumentation used although minimum requirements for instrument selection are referenced in the References section. However, the preparation of samples for the above test methods is described. No details of instrument operation are included here. These are best obtained from the manufacturer of the specific instrument in use.
1.4 Currently, there are no ISO test methods that are equivalent to the test methods outlined in this standard.
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
The use of plastics aboard ships is on the rise and the use of the sea as a trash dumping site is no longer a possibility; consequently, the disposal of plastic materials while at sea remains a major issue. It is possible that biodegradable plastics will help to allay public concern by allowing for the safe disposal of plastic materials at sea. This test method has been developed to assess the rate and degree of aerobic biodegradation of plastics exposed to marine microorganisms. Aerobic biodegradation is determined by measuring the amount of biogas (carbon dioxide) produced during such an exposure.  
It is acceptable to use the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradability of a plastic under the conditions of this test method to estimate the persistence of that plastic in biologically active marine environments, for example, seashore and open-ocean. However, it shall be recognized that predicting long-term environmental fate and effects from the results of short-term exposure to a simulated marine environment is difficult. Thus, caution shall be exercised when extrapolating the results obtained from this or any other controlled-environment test to disposal in the natural environment.
SCOPE
1.1 This test method is used to determine the degree and rate of aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials (including formulation additives) exposed to pre-grown population of at least ten aerobic marine microorganisms of known genera or the indigenous population existing in natural seawater. The test method is conducted under controlled laboratory conditions.
1.2 This test method is designed to index polymer materials that are possibly biodegradable, relative to a positive reference material, in an aerobic environment.
1.3 This test method is applicable to all polymer materials containing at least 20 % carbon that are not inhibitory to the microorganisms present in a marine environment.
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.
1.5 There is no similar or equivalent ISO standard.
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.