Slow degradation of compostable plastic carrier bags in a stream and its riparian area

Maxime Artru , Antoine Lecerf (1)

1 LEFE - Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement

Plastic carrier bags claimed as home compostable lost less than 5% of their initial mass after 11 weeks spent in a stream orits riparian area. Decomposers inhabiting natural environments proved inefficient in degrading such single-use plastic products made of biopolymers.

Mots clés: Biodegradable plastics; plastic degradation; aquatic ecosystems; litter decomposition; shredders

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Maxime Artru, Antoine Lecerf. Slow degradation of compostable plastic carrier bags in a stream and its riparian area. Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology, 2019, 55, pp.18. ⟨10.1051/limn/2019017⟩. ⟨hal-02964376⟩