Study on soil burial biodegradation behaviour on polylactic acid nonwoven material as a replacement for petroleum agricultural plastics

• Published in: Industria textilă (Bucharest, Romania : 1994) Vol. 72; no. 4; pp. 434 - 442
• Main Authors: STROE, CRISTINA ELENA, SARBU, TEODOR, MANEA, VASILICA, BURNICHI, FLOAREA, TOMA, DUMITRU MITEL, TUDORA, CATALINA
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bucharest The National Research & Development Institute for Textiles and Leather - INCDTP 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Agricultural management; Agricultural practices; Agricultural wastes; Agriculture; Agrochemicals; Biodegradation; Biological activity; Circular economy; Crops; Environmental impact; Fertilizers; Herbicides; Humidity; Microorganisms; Pesticides; Plastics; Polyethylenes; Polylactic acid; Polymers; Soils; Tensile strength; Textiles
• ISSN: 1222-5347
• DOI: 10.35530/IT.072.04.1847

Currently, the issues related to environmental pollution with plastics are a major concern. Agriculture is a vital area forhuman existence, but it generates large amounts of plastic waste. These result from agricultural practices that usesystems and support materials which help facilitate the work of farmers and offer a better yield of production and qualityof crops, in relation to the smaller areas of agricultural land. An alternative can be the use of sustainable textiles thatcan bring multiple benefits to the agricultural sector, including: pollution reduction, biodegradation potential, reducedconsumption of agricultural inputs like pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and water, high retention potential for water andgood ventilation, increased productivity and quality for the agricultural crops, etc.First of all, this paper discusses the potential use of bio-based and eco-friendly polymers, such as polylactic acid (PLA),in the form of fibres for the production of non-woven textile structures that can be used as a support element inagricultural practices and for the replacement of conventional plastics obtained from oil resources. Secondly, consideringthe advantage of the biodegradation property of this material, the durability and the influence of the location depth in adegrading natural environment such as soil, were the target of experiments to highlight the positive aspects of polylacticacid use in the context of the circular economy. To demonstrate the proposed objectives, different physico-mechanicalanalyses were performed to determine the morphological characteristics of the fibres, the tensile strength, the materialthickness and the possible loss of mass due to microbial activity.