Research highlights marine biodegradability of Eastman Aventa™ compostable materials

A groundbreaking new study published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering reveals that cellulose diacetate (CDA)-based foams made with Eastman Aventa^™ compostable materials rapidly biodegrade in the marine environment. The article concludes that biodegradable, CDA-based foams are commercially useful and will not persist in our oceans as plastic pollution.

Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the world's leading independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to ocean research, exploration and education, led the study. WHOI's research and journal article focuses on CDA-based foams made with Aventa, which lost up to 70% of their mass after 36 weeks of incubation in seawater. In contrast, polystyrene foams — a material commonly used for food packaging — showed no signs of degradation. The study found that CDA foams degrade faster than any material evaluated under environmentally relevant marine conditions — more than quadruple that of paper and up to 1,000 times greater than solid polypropylene, polystyrene and polylactic acid (PLA).

"Foaming biodegradable bioplastics like Aventa offer a promising strategy to reduce the environmental impact of frequently mismanaged consumer plastics, particularly in food packaging applications," said Collin Ward, associate scientist at WHOI and lead researcher for the study. "These materials not only degrade rapidly in the ocean but also support circularity and material efficiency."

The study dives deeper into a systems-level assessment for redesigning plastic articles for food packaging applications, considering material performance, economics, sustainability and circularity. Aventa is a cellulosic material derived from sustainable wood pulp, ensuring a renewable and sustainable beginning of life, and its compostability translates into a sustainable end of life.

Polystyrene is commonly used in food packaging, but it is not biodegradable and is difficult to recycle. The study concludes, through calculations that include annual consumption rates and the social costs of pollution, that switching from polystyrene to CDA-based foams for food trays could potentially save society more than $1 billion by reducing costs associated with plastic pollution. The study highlights the need for holistic assessments of environmental impact to avoid swapping one issue for another.

"Traditional plastic foams face challenges in end-of-life management, often unintentionally ending up as plastic pollution in the environment," said Jeff Carbeck, vice president of Eastman corporate innovation and care solutions technology. "Eastman Aventa materials offer a sustainable alternative, and this research shows that CDA-based foams will not contribute to persistent marine plastic pollution."

Aventa is also being used as a compostable solution for other single-use applications such as disposable straws and cutlery.

For more information, read the full article in the October 2024 issue of ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c05822 or visit eastman.com/aventa.