ISO 20200:2004 pdf download.Plastics Determination of the degree of disintegration of plastic materials under simulated composting conditions in a laboratory-scale test.
The test method described in ISO 20200 determines the degree of disintegration of plastic materials when exposed to a composting environment. The method is simple and inexpensive, does not require special bioreactors and is scaled for use in any general-purpose laboratory. It requires the use of a standard and homogeneous synthetic solid waste. The synthetic waste components are dry, clean, safe products which can be stored in the laboratory without any odour or health problems. The synthetic waste is of constant composition and devoid of any undesired plastic material which could be erroneously identified as test material at the end of testing, altering the final evaluation. The bioreactors are small, as is the amount of synthetic waste to be composted (approximately 3 I). With the limited amount of test material, this method provides a simplified test procedure. This test method is not aimed at determining the biodegradability of plastic materials under composting conditions. Further testing will be necessary before being able to claim compostability.
ISO 20200 specifies a method of determining the degree of disintegration of plastic materials when exposed to a laboratory-scale composting environment. The method is not applicable to the determination of the biodegradability of plastic materials under composting conditions. Further testing is necessary to be able to claim corn postability.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 3310-1:2000, Test sieves — Technical requirements and testing — Part 1: Test sieves of metal wire cloth
5 Synthetic solid waste
The composition of the synthetic waste used in this method is described in Table 1.
Well aerated compost from a commercial aerobic composting plant shall be used as the inoculum. The compost inoculum shall be homogeneous and free from large inert objects such as glass, stones or pieces of metal. Remove any such objects manually and then sieve the compost on a screen of mesh aperture between 0,5 cm and 1 cm. It is recommended that compost from a plant composting the organic fraction of solid municipal waste be used in order to ensure sufficient diversity of microorganisms. If such a compost is not available, then compost from plants treating farmyard waste or mixtures of garden waste and solid municipal waste may be used. The compost shall not be older than 4 months.
Prepare the synthetic waste manually by mixing the different components listed in Table 1. The allowed tolerance on the mass measurements of the synthetic waste components, water included, is 5 %. Add chlorine-free tap water, or de-ionized or distilled water, to the mixture to adjust its final water content to 55 % in total. Perform this operation just before start-up. The synthetic waste shall have a carbon:nitrogen (C/N) ratio of between 20:1 and 40:1. The urea concentration can be changed to adjust the C/N ratio to the required range. In this case, the concentration of the other components shall be adjusted proportionately in order to bring the total dry mass of the solid waste to 100 %.
6 Composting reactor
The preferred composting reactor is a box made of polypropylene or other suitable material, having the following dimensions: 30 cm x 20 cm x 10 cm (I, w, h). The box shall be covered with a lid assuring a tight seal to avoid excessive evaporation. Additionally, any gap between box and lid may be sealed with adhesive tape. In the middle of the two 20 cm wide sides, a hole of 5 mm diameter shall be made approximately 6,5 cm from the bottom of the box. These two holes provide gas exchange between the inner atmosphere and the outside environment and shall not be blocked.
Other containers with a volume between 5 I and 20 I may also be used, provided that it can be verified that no unfavourable anaerobic conditions are generated. The container shall be closed in a way which avoids excessive drying-out of the contents. Again, openings shall be provided in order to allow gas exchange and ensure aerobic conditions throughout the composting phase.
7 Procedure
7.1 Test material preparation
Cut up test material to give pieces with the dimensions defined in Table 2, based on me thickness of the material.ISO-20200-2004