Data on behavior and environmental impact of compostable packaging materials in full-scale industrial composting conditions.

Abstract

The dataset reports the impact of incorporating commercial compostable plastics into a full-scale open-air windrow composting process using household-separated biowaste. Two batches were prepared from the same biowaste mixture: one as a control and the other with 1.28 wt% of certified compostable plastics. The degradation of the materials was monitored over four months by regular sampling, which matched the industrial composting duration. The final compost was evaluated for agronomic quality and safety. Life-cycle assessment was performed based on data collected on process resource usage. The dataset includes an extensive review of full-scale composting experiments, raw and processed data on the composting process, biodegradation of the materials, disintegration kinetics, and the evolution of morphological parameters of the plastics. Industrial-scale data are very rare and can be compared with lab-scale data to assess the differences in compostable material behavior due to scaling up the process.