Oxo-degradation

Oxo-degradation refers to the breakdown mechanism caused by heat, light or oxygen on plastics that contain additives that accelerate the process of breaking them into smaller fragments called <a href="/facts/Microplastics/HzH0eKP5">microplastics</a>. These plastics contrast biodegradable or compostable plastics, which decompose at the molecular or polymer level. Oxo-degradable plastics are currently banned in the EU, but are still permitted in other jurisdictions such as the UK. 
The specific definitions are found in CEN (European Committee for Standardisation) Technical report CEN/TR 15351. "'Oxo-degradation' is degradation identified as resulting from oxidative cleavage of macromolecules". It describes ordinary plastics which abiotically degrade by oxidation in the open environment and create microplastics, but do not become <a href="/facts/Biodegradation/d1UW4dfR">biodegradable</a> except over a very long period of time. 
Oxo-degradable plastics are intended to fragment if they are introduced into the open environment as litter and should not be confused with plastics intended to biodegrade in the special conditions found in an industrial composting unit. These <a href="/facts/Compostable_plastics/VGRuPh7h">compostable plastics</a> use an entirely different technology, but confusion is caused by the fact that they are so often referred to in discussions of oxo-degradable plastic.

Oxo-degradation open-in-new

Oxo-degradation