BASF’s biodegradable plastic Ecovio FS Film is being used in a pilot project by the waste management service AWB, in the district of Bad Dürkheim, Germany. Starting on April 6, 2011, a three-month test will be conducted to determine whether the bags are suitable for collecting organic waste and how these bags behave on a large scale at an organic composting plant in Grünstadt owned by the waste management company GML Abfallwirtschaftsgesellschaft mbH. At the beginning of the project, each of the approximately 65,000 households in the district of Bad Dürkheim will receive 10 bags free of charge by mail along with information material. Additional bags will be available at a number of distribution points throughout the district . Residents are encouraged to use the bags to collect food waste and then dispose of them via the organic waste bin. Garbage bags made of Ecovio make the collection and disposal of biodegradable waste cleaner, more hygienic and easier: They not only prevent unpleasant odors and keep out insects, but also mean that it is no longer necessary to wash and clean the waste pail in the kitchen. Thanks to the excellent wet strength of the bags, liquids from teabags or fruit leftovers cannot leak through and the bags remain stable. The bags are not suitable for home composting; industrial composting plants, however, provide the conditions needed to ensure residue-free degradation. The seedling logo that is printed on the bags indicates that the bags as well as the products Ecovio and Ecoflex meet the stringent statutory requirements of European standard EN 13432 which governs the biodegradation and the compostability of packaging. “In addition, an extensive series of tests conducted by BASF at the organic composting plant in Grünstadt at the end of 2009 has demonstrated that the bags are also well-suited for the short cycle times of professional composting plants. Of the plastic bags tested, only organic waste bags made from Ecovio were degraded completely and quickly enough,” explained Jürgen Keck, head of the global business with biodegradable plastics at BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
