PROMYDE BIO FAQS

Promyde BIO retains the same physical properties and strength as standard Promyde grades. Your products will have an indefinite shelf life, unaffected by light, heat, moisture, or stress, until they are discarded into a microbial active environment like landfill, soil, where they will biodegrade into biomass, CO₂, and biogas.

Biodegradable Plastic: Degrades through the action of microorganisms in either aerobic (with oxygen) or anaerobic (without oxygen) environments, in a non-specific period.

Compostable Plastic: Decomposes in composting conditions into CO₂, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass, meeting standards like EN13432, in a specific period.

Degradable Plastic: Undergoes significant chemical changes under environmental conditions, leading to a loss of physical properties, often initiated by oxygen, UV light, or heat. They begin to degrade the moment they are manufactured which leads to a shortened useful life. Oxo-degradable polymers are forbidden in Europe.

Traditional plastics are durable and not designed to biodegrade easily. Plastics have been designed for their physical properties, strength and durability. Most plastics contain primarily carbon atoms linked into long chains. Although carbon is a great nutrient source for microorganisms, the long chains make it difficult to be metabolized by microorganisms.

Promyde BIO is able to accelerate biodegradation thanks to its advanced technology, by encouraging the accumulation of microorganism and facilitating acclimation and production of enzymes that allow its metabolization.

Promyde BIO retains the physical properties and strength of standard Promyde grades but is specifically formulated to biodegrade in active microbial environments, such as landfills and soil. In these settings, Promyde BIO breaks down into biomass, CO₂, and biogas, providing a more sustainable and environmentally friendly solution.

No, Promyde BIO requires an active microbial environment, such as a landfill, for biodegradation. It will not degrade in warehouses or on store shelves.

The biodegradation time varies based on factors like surface area, mass, thickness, and environmental conditions. In optimized conditions, Promyde BIO can show up to 24.7% biodegradation within 160 days in anaerobic environments and up to 76% biodegradation in active soil within 90 days.

Laboratories use standardized tests to validate the biodegradability of plastics in a landfill. These tests include:

• ASTM D5511: For evaluating short-term landfill biodegradability.
• ASTM D5526: For simulating long-term landfill conditions.

Each test has its specific focus and limitations, so the results should not be directly compared.

Promyde BIO reduces long-term plastic waste impact by biodegrading and producing methane. Methane can be reclaimed as a source for clean inexpensive energy.

Yes. Promyde BIO has shown up to 76% biodegradation in soil within 90 days according to ISO 17556. We are now carrying out a new complete test up to 2 years to determine the compliance with certifications such as Ok biodegradable in Soil from TÜV or Biodegradable in soil by DIN CERTCO (EN17033), achieving the following requirements:

• Maximum time for biodegradation test (according to ISO 17556) shall be maximum of 2 years.

• The required percentage of relative biodegradation to be reached is 90%, compared to cellulose.

• Other requirements in terms of ecotoxicity, nitrification, …

ISO 17556 outlines the methodology for testing biodegradation in soil.

The standard procedure says that it is preferable to test the material in powder format, but it can also be used in film, fragment, chip, profile format.

Only 100-300 g of the material are used for the test. Maximum size of the material should be 5×5 mm. It is recommended always to compare different polymers using the same format. For example, standard PA against Promyde BIO, as we did.

As much contact surface available, higher biodegradation rate will be found.

Biodegradable in soil certifications follow this standard ISO 17556 for the performance of the biodegradation test.

Biodegradability is an intrinsic characteristic of materials, independent of the size, shape, or thickness of the final product.

You can declare your products are made using 100% Promyde BIO, which is a biodegradable polymer, with the biodegradation declared by Promyde Bio in aerobic and anaerobic environments following the standards ISO 17556 and ASTM 6511.

Promyde BIO has been designed for those applications with high technical requirements, where compostable polymers are not fulfilling. Applications with a short lifespan and final parts which are not effectively recycled or conveniently disposed.