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Long-term immersion of compostable plastics in marine aquarium: Microbial biofilm evolution and polymer degradation
Summary
Researchers immersed compostable plastics PLA and PBAT in a marine aquarium for up to 260 days and found that despite their biodegradable designation, degradation in marine conditions remains extremely slow, while microbial communities colonizing the plastics shifted over time with a notably high proportion of Archaea and distinct plastisphere structures for each polymer type.
The best-selling compostable plastics, polylactic acid (PLA) and polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT), can accidentally end up in the marine environment due to plastic waste mismanagement. Their degradation and colonization by microbial communities are poorly documented in marine conditions. To better understand their degradation, as well as the dynamics of bacterial colonization after a long immersion time (99, 160, and 260 days), PBAT, semicrystalline, and amorphous PLA films were immersed in a marine aquarium. Sequencing and chemical analyses were used in parallel to characterize these samples. Despite the variation in the chemical intrinsic parameters of these plastics, their degradation remains very slow. Microbial community structure varied according to the immersion time with a high proportion of Archaea. Moreover, the plastisphere structure of PBAT was specific. A better understanding of compostable plastic degradability is crucial to evaluate their impact on ecosystems and to eco-design new recyclable plastics with optimal degradation properties.