biodegradable vs non biodegradable explain me with the photo (in thousand worlds)

Dear Student,

@Tarun, your friends have answered correctly.

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Biodegradable waste is a type of waste, typically originating from plant or animal sources, which may be degraded by other living organisms. Waste that cannot be broken down by other living organisms are called non-biodegradable.

Biodegradable waste can be commonly found in municipal solid waste (sometimes called biodegradable municipal waste, or BMW) as green waste, food waste, paper waste, and biodegradable plastics. Other biodegradable wastes include human waste, manure, sewage, slaughterhouse waste. In the absence of oxygen much of this waste will decay to methane by anaerobic digestion.

Biodegradable wastes decompose into soil.

  • Kitchen food scraps
  • Garden waste
  • Paper and egg shells
  • Human and animal waste
  • cardboard boxes


Non-biodegradable wastes take a long time or never to decompose.
  • metal cans
  • bottles
  • toxic chemicals
  • plastic products
  • metal scraps

A:

In general, differences are based on whether or not the action of "a biological agent" can cause the waste in question to be "degraded" to some acceptable level.


A:

Biodegradable means that natural processes can break down the material into their natural components. Whereas, non-biodegradable materials would not be affected by natural processes that would break the material down. Plastic usually is non-biodegradable, because their are very few natural processes that could break the plastic down into smaller elements, whereas something like wood, will rot and decay and be recycled back into the soil.


A:

Biodegradable implies that the material will be destroyed/dissembled by biological and/or natural elements. Nitric Acid rain manufactured in thunderstorms, Oxygen in the air, ultraviolet light in sunlight, and all kinds of microscopic "critters" in the atmosphere and soil which "chomp"on all kinds of materials [including some petroleum products].


A:

Non-biodegradable implies that the material is totally immune from attack by any biological/natural elements and therefore, will exist forever in essentially the same form for ever.


the wastes which cannot be degraded or which cannot be completely destroyed are non biodegradable wastes. non biodegradable wastes are just its opposite


 
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Degradable versus biodegradable plastic

First its important to distinguish between degradable and biodegradable.

Degradable plastic includes all classes of degradable plastic including the biodegradable and compostable. However, plastic that is not biodegradable or compost able usually use the label Degradable plastic. Most of the products using the label Degradable plastic, degrade as result of physical and chemical impact (fracture into smaller pieces of plastic). Biological activity is not a significant part of the degradation of these products, or the process is too slow to earn the classification Biodegradable or Compost able (the biological degradation will typically take many years).

http://www.noplasticbags.org

As you may know, the co-op store is all for degradable plastic. They use it for carrier bags and much of its food wrapping. The following is taken from their website..

The special additive used to make the polythene film degradable was initially developed in conjunction with, and extensively tested by, VMB, part of British Polythene Industries (click here to visit their web-site www.bpipoly.com). Parkside Performance Films, who supply the bags to the Co-op’s bread supplier, were then able to commence supplies of the degradable bread bags, after proving that the material had no detrimental effects on their production, the packing line or indeed the bread itself.
The additive is added as a part of the production process to allow total degradation of the plastic material, leaving only water, a minimal amount of carbon dioxide and a small amount of minerals compatible with soil. The technology has been independently tested and proven to be environmentally safe, leaving no toxic substances at the end of the degradation process. The material has also been tested as safe for direct food contact under EU standards.

http://www.co-op.co.uk/foodretail/index.php?pageid_grp=122.

Indeed the additives that help the plastic break down are often natural as in the case of starch.

From http://www.mindfully.org
“ Three generations of starch-based plastics are recognized. The first generation consists of a synthetic polymer. Starch is only used as a filling These bags are not fully biodegradable, though, since they consist of mainly non-biodegradable synthetic polymers like polyethylene or polypropene and only 5-20 percent starch. Under special conditions the starch degrades and the plastic falls apart into small particles, that will prevail for many years although they are not visible.

In the second generation the starch is used for its polymeric properties.
50-80% starch can be used in these plastics, but still a large part is not biodegradable.

The third generation is a truly biodegradable plastic, that does not contain synthetic polymers at all. To improve some of the properties of the plastic, the biopolymer may be modified, but no synthetic materials are necessary.[

source: Wageningen University University for Life Sciences, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences. Processing of Agricultural Raw Materials for Non-Food Products. P050-217. http://www.ftns.wau.nl/agridata/historybiodegrplast.htm 27oct01

Rather than take centuries for the product to break down it take years or months – the time it takes is built into the bag.

It breaks down into miniscule particles of plastic.

Just to remind you why plastic bits are not so good.

“ plastic is made by combining many toxic synthetic man-made chemicals by a process called polymerization. The plastics industry tells us that this process binds the toxic chemicals together so tightly that they are no longer toxic to us. But they don’t tell us that the polymerization process is never 100% perfect. It always leaves some of those toxic chemicals available to migrate out of the plastic product and into whatever contacts it—your food, you, air, water, and so on.

http://www.mindfully.org

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hope this all helps u..:)

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The term biodegradable is used to describe materials that decompose through the actions of bacteria, fungi, and other living organisms. Temperature and sunlight may also play roles in the decomposition of biodegradable plastics and other substances. If such materials are not biodegradable, they remain in the environment for a long time, and, if these same substances are toxic, they may pollute the soil and water. Some nonbiodegradable pollutants may be capable of causing harm to organisms in the environment.

non biodegrable

 

biodegradable

 

 

 

 

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