ISO 14852:2021

The conditions used in this document do not necessarily correspond to the optimum conditions allowing maximum biodegradation to occur, but this test method is designed to measure the biodegradation of plastic materials and give an indication of their potential biodegradability.

The method enables the assessment of the biodegradation to be improved by calculating a carbon balance (optional, see Annex C).

The method applies to the following materials:

—    natural and/or synthetic polymers, copolymers or mixtures thereof;

—    plastic materials which contain additives such as plasticizers, colorants or other compounds;

—    water-soluble polymers;

—    materials which, under the test conditions, do not inhibit the microorganisms present in the inoculum. Inhibitory effects can be determined using an inhibition control or by another appropriate method (see, for example, ISO 8192^[1]). If the test material is inhibitory to the inoculum, a lower test concentration, another inoculum or a pre-exposed inoculum can be used.