Biodegradable waste Nothing lasts forever and so is biodegradable waste.

Whatever we use has to leave our possession one way or another, it can be today or anytime in the future. Biodegradable waste is any waste which can be naturally decomposed by microbes in the presence of oxygen to give water, carbon dioxide and biomass. This includes; animal waste, dead animals, plant waste and biodegradable products. The waste is organic; contains carbon compounds. The end product of the biodegradable waste should be usable in the soil as farm manure without causing any harm to the environment of the soil. Several environments are available for the decomposition. The environments determine the length and the process through which the biodegradable waste will biodegrade and the final results of the biodegradation. Degradation, biodegradation and compostable The terms degradation, biodegradation and compostable are all related but do not have a similar meaning; though sometimes used interchangeably. Degradation is the ability of material to be broken down into smaller particles. Breaking down into smaller parts does not mean any changes in chemical formation. Degradation does not need any special condition or environment to take place. Biodegradation is the ability of a material to be broken down into carbon dioxide, water and biomass. During biodegradation, oxygen and microbes must be present. Biodegradation will not take place in the absence of microbes and oxygen. Compostable refers to the ability of a material to be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, biogas and biomass in an industrial composting system. Composing takes place in the presence of composting microorganisms in the absence of air. Biodegradable waste can either be biodegradable or composting. Biodegradable materials can be compostable or not but composting materials are never biodegradable. If a composting material is exposed to a biodegradable environment, it will never break down. Microorganisms that work in a composting environment are different from the microorganisms that work in a biodegradable environment. There are two major environments for the breakdown of biodegradable materials; aerobic and anaerobic environment. Aerobic vs. Anaerobic environment Aerobic environment is an environment that is rich in oxygen. Anaerobic environment is an environment devoid of air. Micro-organisms are present in both aerobic and anaerobic environment. The difference between the two environments is the form in which oxygen present exists. In an aerobic environment, there is sufficient oxygen. The microbes that exist in the environment are referred to as aerobes. Aerobes decompose organic material by releasing enzymes which converts the carbon into sugars and finally breaking down the sugars to make energy releasing carbon dioxide. For aerobes, oxygen is their terminal electron acceptor. An anaerobic environment

may lack air but makes use of oxygen. Oxygen is available in compounds anaerobic microbes will make use of the oxygen in compound to break the organic materials down to the final products; carbon dioxide, water, methane, biogas and biomass. Biodegradation in anaerobic environment takes place faster than biodegradation in aerobic environment. Both environments produce biomass, carbon dioxide and water as their final products. Compostable plastics and biodegradable plastics All compostable plastics are biodegradable but not all biodegradable plastics are compostable. Compostable plastics are plastics that can break down in a composting facility while biodegradable products are any materials that can break down into carbon dioxide, water and biomass in the presence of oxygen and microbes. Biodegradable plastics are made up of hydro-biodegradable plastics and Oxobiodegradable plastics. Hydro-biodegradable plastics are plastics made from agricultural produce while Oxo-biodegradable plastics are plastics that are made from petrochemical sources. Compostable plastics are made from agricultural sources thereby qualifying as hydro-biodegradable. The compostable plastics go through a long process which changes their structure to a different complex structure. Composting of the materials after use needs the same conditions like the conditions needed by plant materials to decompose. Water and air must be available for composting to take place. Both Oxo-biodegradable and hydro-biodegradable plastics qualify as biodegradable plastics. Methods of disposing biodegradable waste There are for ways of dealing with biodegradable waste; reuse, recycling, biodegradation and composting. When buying a car, you have an option of going to the company showroom then pick a brand new car which will give you the pleasure of being the first person to feel it on the road or go buy a used car. Both the new car and used car have one thing in common; they are both cars. Whether the car is new or used, they will both move you from point A to point B. The difference is that you will make fewer trips to the mechanic with the new car. This applies to all products and to the biodegradable plastics which is our case here. Instead of throwing away the biodegradable waste, you can reuse the materials if the materials are still in good conditions. Reuse can not only save us money, it will save the time and processes taken to ensure that the materials have undergone biodegradation as soon as we dispose it off and go for a new product. Recycling is another option for biodegradable waste. Of the two types of biodegradable materials; Oxo-biodegradable and hydro-biodegradable, only Oxobiodegradable plastics can be recycled. Hydro-biodegradable material structure makes it impossible for the material to be recycled. On the other hand, Oxobiodegradable materials can easily be recycled. The structure of the Oxobiodegradable plastics does not change during the recycling process. The plastics can

be recycles alongside the synthetic plastics. Sometimes additives are added and the plastics blended to make it usable or maintain the biodegradability of the plastic. Biodegradation can occur to anything that once lived. This includes animals, plants and fossil based substances. The only difference is the duration the materials will take to biodegrade. Fossil was once live animals and plants and despite the materials taking many years to biodegrade, they still biodegrade at the end. Once we are done using any materials that are biodegradable, the materials can be biodegraded into carbon dioxide, water and biomass. There are different methods which can be used for biodegradation. Depending on the waste that we need to biodegrade we can chose to biodegrade the materials in an anaerobic environment, aerobic environment or compost the materials. Composting is limited to hydro-biodegradable materials only. Materials which can compost are composted in an industrial composting facility. Water and oxygen are required for composting to take place. Materials which are meant to be composted will never decompose in any other different environment beside the composting facility. All biodegradable waste is biodegraded into water, carbon dioxide and biomass. Methane and biogas may be other products of biodegradation depending on the biodegradation method and type of biodegradable waste Visit us at http://www.biosphereplastic.com