P-Life®: The world’s only proven oxo-biodegradable plastic additive. Our whole outerwear and technical apparel collection will now come in P-Life® Oxo-biodegradable plastics. P-Life® oxo-biodegradable technology is an ef- fective way to accelerate plastic degradation without harming the environment or compromising functionality. P-Life®is an additive that allows manufacturers to custom tailor the life of every plastic product they make, with- out lowering the product performance.
What is P-Life®?
P-Life is a proprietary additive technology that makes polyolefin polymers, considered as non-biodegradable polymers, into Oxo-Biodegradable polymers. When added to polyolefin polymers, such as polyethylene (PE, LLDPE, LDPE, HDPE) and polypropylene (PP), P-Life® creates molecular scissions in the polymer chain, allowing oxygen to bond to the polymer and break it down into smaller and smaller compounds. These can be then naturally consumed by microorganisms, which convert the compounds into organic biomass. This technology results in a plastic product, that will begin to degrade in few years (or even months) after its use, instead of decades or centuries of polluting the Earth.
How does P-Life® work?
P-Life Oxo-biodegradable plastics undergo two-step degradation.
Step 1 “Oxidative Degradation”
P-Life Oxo-Biodegradable Plastics start to degrade once they are disposed in the natural environment after completion of their lifetime as plastic products. It is called Oxidative Degradation enhanced by P-Life catalytic reaction. As a result of this, the oxidative reaction leads to a chain scission of the polyolefin polymers matrix and the production of low molecular mass oxidative products such as carboxylic acids, alcohol etc.
Step 2 “Biodegradation”
The low molecular mass oxidation products in the process of degradation Step 1 are going to be bio-assimilated gradually in soil or a bio-active composting environment. It is called Biodeg- radation (or Mineralization). Finally, they are converted into CO2, H2O and biomass as the final remnant.
Has P-Life® been tested?
P-Life has been extensively tested to ensure that it functions correctly. SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden (“SP”) performed SP Method SPCR 141 Appendix 4 “Polymeric Waste degradable by abiotic and subsequent biological degradation (A + B Degradation)-Requirements and test Methods.”SP concluded that the test material (LDPE film containing P-Life ) fulfills all the requirements of SPCR141appendix4,whichisinaccordancewith ASTM D6954. P-Life successfully passed Tier 1, 2 and 3 testing.
Tier 1: Loss of mechanical strength occurs after 10 days at 65C and Mw is below 10000
Tier 2 : Biodegradability reaches 91% within 24 months in soil and still increasing.
Tier 3 : Germination and biomass is ≥ 90% for all plants compared to controls.
P-Life® benefits
Oxo-biodegradable additives are the only available solution in the marketplace that allow manufacturers to seamlessly and affordably reimagine all of their plastic products in eco friendly versions without compromising performance or durability. P-Life is the only fully certified, turnkey solution that allows manufacturers to integrate biodegradable technology without changing their manufacturing infrastructure, redesigning their products, or drastically affecting their bottom line. P-Life is a revolutionary product that was designed to work seamlessly with existing plastic manufacturing techniques, and be recyclable and biodegradable at the same time. Oxo-biodegradable plastics are highly effective and easy to introduce into existing product lines.
Source of the information https://www.plife-int.com
