Biodegradable plastics are artificially produced materials made up of polymers, that is, chains of molecules repeated many times and linked together, which create a solid material. Biodegradable plastics are broken down by microorganisms that recognise them as food. Biodegradation is therefore a type of degradation that occurs by means of living organisms, such as bacteria, fungi and algae, but also water, UV rays and heat.
The process takes place through the fragmentation of the polymer into smaller parts, which are then mineralised. To mineralise means to transform organic materials into inorganic ones, such as carbon dioxide.
So the starting point is a complex material, such as a plastic object made up of many polymers, and the end point is small, inorganic compounds such as carbon dioxide or methane.
