Anaerobic digestion of bioplastics

Plastic waste has become ubiquitous due to its low-cost production and single-use and disposal management practices. To limit environmental pollution, biodegradable plastics were developed. In this chapter, anaerobic degradation of the bioplastics is presented. After a brief overview of the anaerobic degradation process, processes to evaluate the degradation of bioplastics and the factors that affect anaerobic degradation of bioplastics are presented. Anaerobic biodegradation under thermophilic condition is found feasible albeit slow degradation. Therefore pretreatment of bioplastics prior to digestion is essential to improve the biodegradability. Standards regulating biomethanization of packaging wastes exist. However, threshold levels of biodegradability in terms of temperature, process time. and percentage of degradation are still lacking. Finally, normalization/certification should be developed and harmonized at the international level to improve social acceptance. Thus anaerobic digestion can play a crucial role as an end-of-life viable solution for management of biodegradable plastics.