FAQ

Yes. Expenditure incurred on procuring biodegradable plastics which are qualified as per ISO 17088 can be avails as CSR activity.

Yes. Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) of Indian Government has prescribed ISO 17088 as Standards for using compostable/biodegradable plastics in India.

Yes. We have tested our BIOTEC BAGS® biodegradable plastics in a BIS approved lab called M/s. Shriram Institute for Industrial Research. This is the only lab having NABL accreditation for testing of biodegradable plastics in India. We have proved 90% biodegradation in 180 days as per the standards of ISO 17088 cross referred to ISO 14855 and EN13432.

No. None of us would have buried any plastic for disposing in our life time. Either they are carelessly thrown in the environment or collected and dumped in the landfill or disposed through the composting condition. Our biodegradable plastics are biodegradable in aerobic condition and not anaerobic condition. We have tested BIOTEC BASG® as per ISO 17088 referred to ISO 14855 Standards of aerobic biodegradation.

All compostable/biodegradable plastics will take upto 180 days for 90% biodegradation in lab condition and approximately 360 to 400 days in environment condition for complete biodegradation. Biodegradation of BIOTEC BAGS® also takes approximately in 12 months in environment condition, ie., from the day of having contact with soil, and exposed to oxygen, sunlight and heat. The degree/speed of biodegradation may vary from place to place, nature of soil, availability oxygen, sunlight and heat.

BIOTEC BAGS® products have a shelf life of up to 18-24 months in packed conditions when they are not having contact with soil and not exposed to sunlight and heat.

Yes. BIOTEC BAGS® biodegradable products are compostable, and non-toxic, hence enhancing the nutritive value of the soil.

BIOTEC BAGS® are coated with enzymes which act as catalyst to disintegrate the molecular structure of the plastic and consumed by the living organism in composting condition or in the presence of soil, oxygen, sunlight and heat; whereas, normal, degradable and oxo-degradable plastic bags remain in the world for hundreds of years up to 1000 years.

Except BIOTEC BAGS® all other compostable Plastics presently in the world are made from the biopolymers. They can be called as biobased / biosourced / agrobased pCymers. Starch is the reserve carbohydrate of plants. By modification of its properties chemically, they make biopolymer. Different kinds of Compostable Plastics are made from different raw-materials such as Polyhdroxy Fatty Acids (PHA - Polyhydroxyalknoaates & The two members of the PHA families are Polyhydroxyhexanoates (PHBHs) and Polyhydroxyvalerate (PHV)), Polyactic acid (PLA), Polycaprolactone (PLC), Polybutylene succinate (PBS) and Enzyme based/enzyme treated plastics.

No both are Degradable Plastics only and Not biodegradable. Currently available all Oxo-Biodegradable bags in the market should be called as Oxo-Degradable only. ASTM D6954 is the standard guide developed for testing plastics that degrade by a combination of Oxidation followed by Biodegradation. Unfortunately none of the suppliers could prove the biodegradation after oxidation.

Degradable bags: Plastic in which degradation does not occur by the naturally occurring microorganism. Actually the degradation induced due to Oxygen / UV radiation / Heat / Water over the years. Oxo-degradable, Photo-degradable, Thermal degradable and Hydrolytic-degradable plastics are the plastics in which degradation do not happen biologically. They break the chain of polyethylene into smaller and smaller and remain as plastic in soil and water.

Plastic that undergoes degradation by biological processes during composting to carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate consistent with other known, compostable materials and leaves no toxic residue.

Plastic in which the biological degradation process results from the action of naturally-occurring micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi and algae.

Normal plastic bags are better than Paper bags as all paper bags are made by cutting down the trees. Compared to plastic, paper requires more energy, air and water. They are not good in terms of cost, strength, usage, life, landfill space required etc. Only in terms of degradable period the paper bags are better than the normal plastic bags provide they are not laminated or chemical/wax coated. Nowadays most of the paper bags are either chemical or poly coated. Biodegradable plastic bags have got all the advantage of normal plastic bags and the degradable period is much better than the paper bags.

Only Cotton, Jute and Compostable/Biodegradable bags are real eco-friendly alternate to plastic bags. Sometimes jute bags are also laminated inside with plastic. They are not really green bags. Non-woven bags (looking like cloth bags) are extensively used as alternate to plastic bags. Actually they are plastic, having 98.3% polypropylene and not biodegradable. Even the places where plastic is banned, these Non-woven bags are used.

Recycling is an excellent way of handling used plastic. Not always. More than 93% of plastics are not recycled. If recycling happened, after recycling couple of times the plastic loses its properties and becomes unsuitable for recycling. Most of the manufacturers use filler (a cheap powder material) along with plastics for reducing the cost. It makes recycling of more difficult and products recycled with fillers will have life.

Once plastic is created it cannot be destroyed. The molecular structure cannot be broken down. Disintegration of plastics is impossible. Hence biological degradation is not possible. Average use of a plastic carry bag is 20 minutes but it takes 1000 years to decay.

Biodegradable plastic will degrade as a result of bacterial activity. In order to also be classified compostable, the degradation must meet certain specified criteria such as rate biodegradation, maximum residue of material left at a specific point in time and a requirement for the material to have no harmful impact on the final compost or the composting process. Degradable plastic includes all classes of degradable plastic including the biodegradable and compostable. However, plastic that is not biodegradable or compostable usually use the label Degradable plastic. Most of the products using the label Degradable plastic, degrade as result of physical and chemical impact (fracture into smaller pieces of plastic). Biological activity is not a significant part of the degradation of these products, or the process is too slow to earn the classification Biodegradable or Compostable (the biological degradation will typically take many years). ASTM and ISO have the following definitions on various degradable plastics: degradable plastic , a plastic designed to undergo a significant change in its chemical structure under specific environmental conditions resulting in a loss of some properties that may vary as measured by standard test methods appropriate to the plastic and the application in a period of time that determines its classification. biodegradable plastic , a degradable plastic in which the degradation results from the action of naturally-occurring micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi and algae. compostable plastic, a plastic that undergoes degradation by biological processes during composting to carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate consistent with other known, compostable materials and leaves no visually distinguishable or toxic residue. photo degradable plastic , a degradable plastic in which the degradation results from the action of natural daylight. oxidative degradable plastic , a degradable plastic in which the degradation results from oxidation. hydrolytic degradable plastic, a degradable plastic in which the degradation results from hydrolysis.