Alkali, thermal, or thermo-alkali pre-treatment to improve the anaerobic digestion of poly(lactic acid)?

Replacing petroleum-based plastics with biodegradable polymers is a major challenge for modern society especially for food packaging applications. To date, poly(lactic acid) represents 25 % of the total biodegradable plastics and it is estimated that, in the future, it could become the main contributor to the biodegradable plastics industry. Anaerobic digestion is an interesting way for the poly(lactic acid) end of life, even if its biodegradability is limited in mesophilic conditions.

The issues of energy and carbon cycle: new perspectives for assessing the environmental impact of animal waste utilization.

This paper focuses on the benefits of an efficient use of animal waste from the standpoint of curbing the rise of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO(2)) in the atmosphere. An effective use of animal waste resources might provide a partial, but still important, contribution in reducing net CO(2) emissions. In particular: the fulfillment of nutrient requirements of crop plants growing in non-limiting conditions and thus sequestering CO(2) at their potential level; the chance of diminishing the use of fossil energy, and related CO(2) emissions, required for manufacturing industrial fertilizers; the possibility of enhancing carbon sequestration in agricultural soils by the application of farmyard manure.