Investigation of the biological degradation of foils in different soils

At an early stage of product development, it is important to understand if and how biodegradation
happens. BASF develops a range of certified biodegradable products which are used in
numerous applications including soil biodegradable agricultural mulch films, compostable
bags and home & personal care products. There are a number of methods which can be used
to measure the biodegradation of a material in different habitats.

For compostable and soil biodegradable products, it is important to ensure that these products not only biodegrade but also to assess how the final item disintegration under standardized endof-life conditions takes place. Typically for films products, slide frames are used which hold the film in a specific environment for a number of days, which allows good retrieval of the test sample. The extent of disintegration is then analyzed using automatic analysis algorithms.

Constanze Risse, lab digitalization specialist, analyses samples from a soil disintegration experiment on a light box.