LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The UK government has implemented a new standard for biodegradable plastics to simplify their classification.
Plastic claiming to be biodegradable will now have to pass a test to prove it breaks down into a harmless wax which contains no microplastics or nanoplastics.

The guide, published by the British Standards Institute is the benchmark for the new standard.

Currently, many plastic products in litter persist in the environment for hundreds of years. To meet the standard, the polymer has to pass tests which show it will biodegrade to a harmless state in real-world situations. This will affect commonly used products such as food and drink cartons.

Scott Steedman, director of standards at BSI, said: "Tackling the global challenge of plastic waste requires imagination and innovation. New ideas need agreed, publicly available, independent standards to enable the delivery of trusted solutions by industry.

"PAS 9017 is the first stakeholder consensus on how to measure the biodegradability of polyolefins that will accelerate the verification of technologies for plastic biodegradation."

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