On November 26, 2021, the State Administration of Market Supervision formulated and issued two recommended national standards of 《Biodegradable Plastics and Products Degradability and Labeling Requirements》, which will be officially implemented on June 1, 2022. At present, the standard documents have not been published. You can refer to the version for approval of the《Degradability and Labeling Requirements of Biodegradable Materials and Products》.
ONE: What are the new requirements of the new national standard?
1. Requirement of organic ingredients
The organic ingredients (volative solid content) of biodegradable plastics and products shoud be greater than or equal to 51%.
2、Requirement of heavy metal content
Regarding the chemical properties, the content limit for heavy metals and specific elements are specified, and the specific requirements are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 heavy metal and the limit requirement of specific elements
| Heavy Metal and specific elements | Limit (Dry Weight) mg/kg |
| (As) | ≦5 |
| (Cd) | ≦0.5 |
| (Co) | ≦38 |
| (Cr) | ≦50 |
| (Cu) | ≦50 |
| (F) | ≦100 |
| (Hg) | ≦0.5 |
| (Ni) | ≦25 |
| (Mo) | ≦1 |
| (Pb) | ≦50 |
| (Se) | ≦0.75 |
| (Zn) | ≦150 |
Why do we need to limit the content of heavy metals and specific elements?
After the degradable products are degraded, the organic carbon will become carbon dioxide and other small molecular substances, and the heavy metals and specific elements contained in it will remain in the environmental medium. In order to avoid the residual elements from polluting the medium, the limit requirements for the content of heavy metals and specific elements are stipulated .
This limit required refers to GB/T 28206-2011(DI ISO17088. The heavy metal and specific elemet comtent limit givenin e heavy metal and specific element content limit given in this standard is mainly based on 50% of 40 CFR 503.13 in the United States and BNQ 9011-911-I/2007 in Canada. , The EU has awarded the Ecological Standards of the Soil Improvement Group Environmental Mark, the Japanese Fertilizer Control Law (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) and Compost Control Regulations (Agriculture).
3、Strictly restrict toxic substancesAll materials used should comply with the national laws and regulations on products or prohibited dangerous substances in certain fields, especially those classified as carcinogenic, gene mutation, reproductive toxicity, and allergic substances should be highly concerned. . Substances of very high concern shall meet the requirements of GB/T 39498, and the manufacturer shall provide relevant evidence such as self-declaration.
4、Biodegradability requirements
Biodegradability should meet below requirement:
a）The relative biodegradation rate should be greater than or equal to 90%, and the absolute biodegradation rate of a single organic component with a component greater than or equal to 1% in the material should be greater than or equal to 60%;
b）If the biodegradable plastic and the product are composed of a mixture or a composite of multiple materials, the organic components with a component less than 1% should also be biodegradable, but proof of ability is not required. The total sum of the components with a component less than 1% should be less than 5%. Note: For organic ingredients with a component greater than or equal to 1%, a biodegradability certificate such as an inspection report should be provided; for organic ingredients with a component content of less than 1%, the biodegradability can provide a corresponding product inspection report or a self-declaration by the company.
5、Disintegration rate requirements
For biodegradable plastics and products that claim to be industrially compostable, high-solid anaerobic digestion, household composting, etc., the disintegration rate should be greater than or equal to 90%.
6、Ecotoxicity test requirements for degradation products
If required, the germination rate of the phytotoxicity test of the degradation products of biodegradable plastics and products should be greater than or equal to 90%, and the weight of the sample degradation products after drying for 3 hours at 105°C and the weight of the blank group of plants after drying The percentage should be greater than or equal to 90%.
7、Pass rate of degradation product earthworm test
If required, the earthworm test survival rate of the degradation products of biodegradable plastics and products should be greater than or equal to 90%, and the weight ratio of the surviving earthworms to the initial test earthworms should be greater than or equal to 90%.
The degradation test methods specified in the standard mainly include compostable conditions, aqueous culture fluid conditions, soil conditions, high-solid anaerobic composting and anaerobic digestion conditions.
TWO: How to test the degradability of degradable plastics?
The content of organic components (volatile solids) is tested according to method A in GB/T 9345.1-2008, and the test temperature is 650°C. Degradation environmental conditions mainly include freshwater environment, composting, soil, marine environment, anaerobic digestion of sludge, and high-solid anaerobic digestion.
It is worth noting that as long as biodegradation under anaerobic conditions is involved, the time limit of the test cycle will be relatively shorter and more stringent. High-solid anaerobic digestion and degradation conditions are even a pitiful 15 days.
The standard stipulates that the product's degradation performance and its degradation products cannot cause secondary pollution, which will help relevant product manufacturers, sales companies, retail supermarkets and catering companies, and other users, and related units to implement various national policies and measures to control plastic pollution.
In order to facilitate producers and consumers to know whether the product is a biodegradable plastic, the labeling requirements are based on the stipulated text labeling method, and at the same time, the graphic labeling method is specified, and the product material, label location, label color, and labeling method are specified. Detailed instructions are given. The text mark includes the material, degradation environmental conditions, standard and product name.
According to actual needs, the following instructions are included under the logo, and the following four points correspond to the four logos in the figure.
a. material
b. Degradation environmental conditions. Degradation environmental conditions can include: Soil degradation, compostable degradation, marine environmental degradation, freshwater environmental degradation, sludge anaerobic digestion, high-solid anaerobic digestion
c. Product standard number
d. Product name
THREE : What kind of testing organization meets the requirements?
The detection of biodegradable shopping bags is mainly carried out in accordance with the national standard GB/T 38082-2019, and there are no restrictions on the testing agency, but it is recommended that the testing agency should at least have the qualifications of CNAS, CMA, and the inspection capabilities of the corresponding inspection items and the corresponding experiments Room capacity authorization.
FOUR: When will the new standard be revised? When will the standard be officially implemented?
The GB/T 38082-2019 standard stipulates that the minimum thickness of a biodegradable shopping bag is ≥0.015mm in the current standard. The GB/T 21661 standard specifies non-degradable plastic shopping bags (including non-degradable traditional plastic shopping bags and starch-based plastic shopping bags).
At present, GB/T 21661 is the 2008 edition, and the minimum thickness is 0.025mm; the standard is under revision, and the minimum thickness and physical properties will be revised. The main purpose of the revision is to make plastic shopping bags more conducive to repeated use, durable and easy to use. Recycling, where the minimum average thickness is planned to be greater than or equal to 0.030mm. When producing, selling, and purchasing by manufacturers, users, etc., biodegradable plastic shopping bags shall be implemented in accordance with the GB/T 38082-2019 standard, and non-degradable plastic shopping bags shall be implemented in accordance with GB/T 21661 (the 2008 version shall be implemented before the revised version is released). When the standard is released, the implementation date of the standard will be announced at the same time.
FIVE: Must the label clearly indicate the polymer ratio? What are the printing standards for the logo?
The proportion of polymers in the label shall be clearly indicated in accordance with the principle of voluntary labeling by the producer. Regarding the label content of degradable materials, a national standard will be formulated later, which is expected to be released by the end of the year. The graphic logo is fixed, and the positions of the graphic logo and the text logo can be adjusted according to the size of the product. However, if the manual and other locations are sufficient, it is recommended to mark the location as required by the guide as much as possible.
