Soil-biodegradable plastic films do not decompose in a lake sediment over 9 months of incubation

van Grinsven, Sigrid; Schubert, Carsten

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4213-2023

Articles | Volume 20, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4213-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4213-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 19

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

13 Oct 2023

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 13 Oct 2023

Soil-biodegradable plastic films do not decompose in a lake sediment over 9 months of incubation

Sigrid van Grinsven and Carsten Schubert

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https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4213-2023-supplement

Data sets

Soil-biodegradable plastic films do not decompose in a lake sediment over 9 months of incubation Sigrid van Grinsven and Carsten Schubert https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8426091

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Co-editor-in-chief

The findings of this study are interesting to a broader audience as it demonstrates that supposedly biodegradable mulch films used for agricultural purposes remain unchanged in lake sediments over several months. The results indicate that lake sediments are a place of long-term storage rather than a place of degradation for this form of plastic.

Short summary

Agriculture relies heavily on plastic mulch films, which may be transported to aquatic environments. We investigated the breakdown of soil-biodegradable agricultural mulch films in lake sediments. After 40 weeks, films were intact, and no significant CO₂ or CH₄ was produced from the biodegradable mulch films. We conclude that the mulch films we used have a low biodegradability in lake sediments. The sediment lacks the microbes needed to break down the biodegradable plastics that were used here.