A new research from the North Carolina State University demonstrates that man-made biodegradable products that end up in landfills can do more harm than good.
A graduate student works in a biolab research facility on NC State's Centennial Campus
Biodegradable products such as disposable cups and other utensils that are deployed in landfills are fragmented by microorganisms and release methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The study finds that this problem is likely to worsen with increased break down of such products.
The report points out that the present Federal Trade Commission guidelines, which specify that biodegradable products should be degraded within a short period of time after their disposal, do not insist on methane gas collecting landfills to deploy gas collecting systems at least for a period of two years after waste burial. It points out that the buried materials will break down and large quantities of methane will be released into the air before a proper collection systems is installed.
The researchers have discovered that reduced rate of biodegradation will do less harm to the ecology because the methane collection systems can be installed well in advance before such bulk generation of methane takes place. The research did not include certain biodegradable products such as bags or anaerobic digestion facilities.
The research paper titled “Is Biodegradability a Desirable Attribute for Discarded Solid Waste? Perspectives from a National Landfill Greenhouse Gas Inventory Model,” was published by the journal Environmental Science & Technology in its online edition. The research received support from the Environmental Research and Education Foundation and Procter & Gamble.