Evaluating Bioplastic Degradation & Fragmentation Using Rainfall Simulation

Plastic accumulation in the open environment due to mismanagement has led to growing concern over its pollution and degradation of ecosystems and impacts on human health. The current linear consumption of conventional plastics is widely considered unsustainable. Biodegradable polymers (bioplastics) have been growing in production and use and are frequently marketed as sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics. However, the environmental impacts resulting from the mismanagement or improper disposal of bioplastics is an area of research that is still in its infancy. This is especially true in the context of Ireland, which generates the highest amount of plastic packaging waste in the EU. The expected growth in bioplastic consumption and the lack of bioplastic degradation knowledge coupled with Ireland’s high plastic waste generation and abundance of rain serves as the foundation to this research. This research aims to evaluate the degradation and fragmentation of degradable and nondegradable bioplastics in a controlled environment, simulating maritime conditions to gain a better understanding of their possible degradation in an open environment due to mismanagement or littering. Rainfall simulators can replicate natural rainfall events and provide meaningful, quantifiable data. Rainfall simulation and UV ageing will be used under controlled laboratory conditions to analyse bioplastic degradation over time. Rainfall runoff will be collected and analysed for microplastic persistence to glean insight into possible impacts to environmental receptors such as soil and waterways. Following the rainfall simulation, mechanical testing in the form of tensile strength tests will be performed to further analyse the degradation. Lastly, computational modelling and soil burial studies will act as supports to the laboratory testing. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind using rainfall simulation to evaluate bioplastic degradation and this research has the potential to offer a novel method for evaluating bioplastic degradation in a simulated oceanic climate environment.