About the Seminar: 

Although dozens of methods exist for quantifying plastic degradation, industry typically focuses on CO₂ evolution as the only marker for degradation. This is due to the simplicity and low cost of this test. However, this method is actually measuring the mineralization potential of the plastic, not its true degradation. True degradation includes mineralization of the plastic into CO₂, but also needs to consider things like microplastic formation, additive release, and degradation via photooxidation. In this seminar, I will discuss the merits and drawbacks of various methods used to quantify environmental plastic decomposition, focusing on the need for more accurate (but still low cost) methods to be available for industry.