A Starch-Based Biodegradable Polyethylene for Municipal Solid Waste Mitigation
- 1 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
- 2 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
- 3 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Abstract
This work reports a method for reducing the longevity of the polymer content of Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) in the environment. In this approach biodegradability was imparted on polyethylene, a popular, low-cost commodity polymer, using starch additives. Corn starch and cassava starch in varying proportions were compounded with suitably prepared polyethylene powder and compression-moulded in steel dies. Alongside tensile test, biodegradability tests were carried out by burying samples for 28 days in two different soil types with different pH, fungi and bacteria load. Cassava starch additions were found to be better at imparting biodegradability. Also, alkaline soil types with higher bacteria load seemed a more favourable environment for accomplishing biodegradation in the starch-polyethylene composites.
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