Monitoring and Control of Biodegradation of Cellulose-Based Products for Agricultural Applications, 18PaperCon

Environmental concerns, as well as new laws and regulations have spurred the demand for renewable and biodegradable alternatives to the plastic mulch products used in agriculture. While a clear advantage of paper over plastics is its biodegradability, the rate at which it degrades must be sufficiently slow to preserve the integrity of the mulch product over a period of several weeks while it  is in use in the field. We found that paper can lose most of its strength within a few days after burial even though its degradation is not visually apparent. We established a method to quantify the impact of burial period on the strength properties of paper-based products. The method was used to evaluate different strategies to reduce the rate of strength loss and to extend the useful life of paper products for this particular application. Results confirmed that papers made from mechanical pulps with high lignin content degrade more slowly than similar papers made from kraft pulps. In particular, samples made with BCTMP pulp experienced the lowest rate of strength loss among all samples tested even though they had the lowest initial strength. 

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