A February 2023 Applied Soil Ecology article https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2022.104714 by researchers with Germany University of Bayreuth report: “… the response of soil CO2 emissions to various types, quantities, and sizes of microplastic is not well understood. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on soil microbial biomass, bacterial community composition and CO2 development. Two types of plastics, LDPE (low-density polyethylene) and PBAT (polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate) … were amended to a sandy loam and a loamy soil and CO2 emissions were measured … We conclude that direct impacts of plastic on soil properties are not the main reason for increased soil CO2 emissions, but rather relate to the different recalcitrance of polymer types. Soils contaminated with biodegradable plastic may emit larger amounts of CO2, which needs to be considered in predictions of global impacts of plastic pollution and its mitigation …” #MicroPlastics #SoilEcology #BiodegradablePlastic @unibt
Animal Digestible Food Packaging Initiative
Our reason-for-being/goal/purpose/objective/intent is to convince/inspire/persuade/encourage the food processing industry to establish and fund a public private partnership for the discovery of new food packaging materials that would be digestible by animals (farm animals as well as ubiquitous microbes).
