Ecology of Products, Novamont S.p.A, via Fauser 8, 28100, Italy.
Waste Manag. 2021 Jul 1;130:61-64. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2021.05.017. Epub 2021 May 26.
In 1994, the European directive on packaging and packaging waste introduced the principle that biodegradable packaging can be recovered together with bio-waste by organic recycling (e.g. composting). Recently, critical voices have been raised against this principle on the basis that packaging does not add nutrients to the compost and is also "lost", i.e. mostly mineralized in CO and water. These opinions do not take into account the specificity of composting and are unfounded. The term compost comes from composite. In fact, it is necessary to mix together feedstocks with different biodegradation behaviour and different C/N ratios to start a composting process and obtain quality compost. For example, cellulose is a feedstock at medium biodegradation rate that brings energy and biomass. Energy is needed to heat the compost pile and ensure that the composting process, including pasteurization, takes place without any external energy source. On the other hand, lignin is quite recalcitrant, brings no energy to the process and forms the basic structure of compost. Cellulose does not contain nitrogen, but it is the most relevant feedstock in composting. Likewise, packaging is nitrogen-free and can be equated with cellulose in terms of biodegradation behaviour and role in the composting process. In fact, biodegradability of packaging is assessed by using cellulose as the reference material. A compostable packaging, whether based on cellulose-fibres (paper, cardboard) or based on biodegradable plastics behaves similarly to other composting feedstock and contributes to the composting process and to the production of good quality compost.
1994 年，欧洲关于包装和包装废物的指令引入了这样一个原则，即可生物降解的包装可以通过有机回收（例如堆肥）与生物废物一起回收。最近，一些批评声音基于包装不会给堆肥添加养分，而且还会“消失”，即主要矿化为 CO 和水，对这一原则提出了质疑。这些观点没有考虑到堆肥的特殊性，是没有根据的。术语“堆肥”来源于复合。事实上，有必要将具有不同生物降解行为和不同 C/N 比的原料混合在一起，以启动堆肥过程并获得高质量的堆肥。例如，纤维素是一种中速生物降解的原料，它提供能量和生物质。需要能量来加热堆肥堆并确保堆肥过程（包括巴氏杀菌）在没有任何外部能源的情况下进行。另一方面，木质素相当顽固，不会给过程带来能量，而是形成堆肥的基本结构。纤维素不含氮，但它是堆肥过程中最相关的原料。同样，包装不含氮，在生物降解行为和在堆肥过程中的作用方面，可以与纤维素相媲美。事实上，包装的可生物降解性是通过使用纤维素作为参考材料来评估的。可堆肥的包装，无论是基于纤维素纤维（纸、纸板）还是基于可生物降解塑料，其行为都与其他堆肥原料相似，有助于堆肥过程和生产高质量的堆肥。
