Biodegradability of commercial plastic bags

Md Salleh, Muhammad Iqbal (2017) Biodegradability of commercial plastic bags. Project Report. Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

As of January 1, 2016, the Melaka state government has announced a total ban on plastic bags made from petroleum by-products at all supermarkets in Melaka. As such, Biotech has introduced and supplied biodegradable plastic bags made of plant-based materials. Since then, many biodegradable plastic bags are easily available in Melaka market. This raises the question of whether these plastic bags are genuinely biodegradable or not. It is also crucial to understand the plastic strength and degradation in the environment. This study aim to assess the degradation of biodegradable plastic bags in different conditions. A total of two samples of the plastic bags in which claimed as biodegradable, which came from supermarket F and M and one of them was an ordinary plastic bags labeled as C. The results were compared at the end of this study. The plastic bags was cut to a size of 15 cm x 15 cm. The samples were buried in soil with different moisture and acid levels. Six beakers were used to place the soil in which labeled as S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, and S6. The moisture levels were set to 30%, 45%, and 60%. The acidity levels were 4pH and 8pH. After 12 weeks buried under the soil, changes of moisture and acid content were measured. The sample was cleaned up for tensile test, percentage of weight loss and physical changes were monitored and measured. The sample from S4 has shown a significant decrease in weight, especially sample F. Sample F and M were biodegradable plastic. On the other hand, sample C was a common traditional petroleum-based plastic. Samples M and C showed subtle change in weight loss. In addition, all of the three samples showed significant in strength and elongation. The biodegradable plastic bags resulted with different strength and elongation were due to different material content. Sample F also showed change in color and holes were observed. Therefore, it was confirmed that sample F is a biodegradable plastic.

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