SCRIPPS: on the search for biological degradability in the ocean
Every year 12 million tons of fossil-based plastic end up in the sea. This has a massive impact on marine fauna and flora and on the health of mankind. Since this cannot continue, scientists at the SCRIPPS Institute for Oceanography (SIO) at the University of California are searching for concrete solutions to this global problem. In an extensive series of tests, SCRIPPS has now analyzed what the situation is with regard to the degradability of fossil-based plastics in the sea, on the one hand, and wood-based VEOCEL™-fibers on the other. The results are both exciting and scientific.
Dr. Dimitri Deheyn is a Research Scientist at SCRIPPS. Based in South California, not far from San Diego, the Institute is one of the world’s leading scientific addresses in the field of marine research. Among other things, he set himself the goal of finding solutions to the greatest ecological challenges of our times such as the negative changes in ecosystems as a result of climate change or the pollution of our oceans with plastics. Together with his team, Deheyn has also, in the past years, pursued the question of what the situation is with regard to the biodegradability of VEOCEL™ fibers in the ocean. The degradability of wood-based cellulosic fibers has already been proven in the laboratory, and now on the basis of a laborious experiment, tests have been conducted concerning how quickly VEOCEL™fibers are degraded in natural conditions in the sea. The result is final: after only 28 days, the wood-based fibers of VEOCEL™ were degraded under water. „Our research shows that VEOCEL™-Fibers have a similar biodegradability to plant leaves“, Deheyn explains.
Bio-degradability – important facts
By now we have all heard the expression “biodegradability” – but what is this exactly? A substance is considered to be biodegradable when it decomposes due to biological activity, like for example microorganisms or enzymes. With organic products, for example with fruit, this degradation process happens very quickly – an apple core decomposes within as little as two weeks, an orange peel in around two years. With products, which contain fossil-based plastic, degradation can take hundreds and up to thousands of years – with the result that toxic microplastic is released into the environment as a secondary product. The conditions which prevail when the degradation process is taking place also constitute an important factor when it comes to the biodegradability of products – thus the rate of biodegradability on soil or under water differs depending on the temperature, oxygen content, the number of microorganisms, which are involved in the process.
The experiment in detail
To observe this with care, for the experiment more than 45 different material and fleece samples – from cotton to polyester through to VEOCEL™ cellulosic fibers – were placed in small nets, on the one hand, on the surface of the water and, on the other hand, at a depth of around ten meters under water. These samples were then analyzed in detail and the result of the experiment is worth taking a look: while polyester fibers revealed practically no changes after 200 days, the VEOCEL™ cellulosic fiber had practically completely decomposed after 28 days.
VEOCEL™ - from Nature, back to Nature
The experiment furnished proof that the wood-based cellulosic fibers from VEOCEL™ are completely biodegradable not only in the laboratory but also in the sea. The SCRIPPS study of the series of tests, which was published in October 2021, shows that the wood-based cellulosic fibers biodegrade at the end of their life cycle in sea water in a short period of time and thus clearly represent a better alternative to fossil-based fibers like polyester.
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