As the old adage goes, "seeing is believing!" - and when it comes to innovations, new technologies and inventions that work in ways that differ to the status quo - it is often much easier to understand via images.

In this blog post, take a closer look at Solinatra and discover a magnified view of our plant based materials under the microscope at different stages of the composting process.

Solinatra materials are biomaterials, made with 100% naturally derived ingredients to produce a compounded pellet that can be moulded into shape using the same manufacturing machinery as plastic, to produce products that have similar characteristics to plastic, but - crucially - unlike plastic, that fully biodegrade and compost.

Before and After

At first glance you may think we have mistakenly uploaded photos of the surface of the moon or Mars, but these otherworldly images show Solinatra at various degrees of magnification. These initial images show non-degraded test plaques made of Solinatra, taken through a high magnification scanning electron microscope (SEM). The surface is mostly smooth, with the natural irregularities of the surface seen once the magnification reaches 348000X.

(Click the images to view at full screen.)

Following degradation, the microscope shows wide fissures and fractures in the surface of the plaques. The wiry strings growing across the surface show established bacterial biofilm, this is evidence of microorganisms working their way to degrade the material.

In these images we can see bacteria on the surface of the Solinatra material. As the single-cell organisms 'eat' their way through the material, they replicate and spread further across the material, breaking it down and digesting it.

Test Conditions

To measure and analyse the biodegradation and composting process, we test our materials and applications made of our materials under a number of conditions. To replicate the industrial composting conditions found in anaerobic digestion plants (the facilities that process household food waste collections), test plaques were placed in a compost mix, in a controlled environment at 58˚C, for 45 days following ISO 20200 and simulating the requirements of the EN13432 standard.

The method determines the degree of disintegration of test materials on a laboratory scale under conditions simulating an intensive aerobic composting process. The solid matrix used consists of a synthetic solid waste inoculated with mature compost. Pieces of test material are composted with prepared synthetic compost. The degree of disintegration is determined after a composting cycle by sieving the final matrix through a 2mm sieve to recover the non-disintegrated residues. The reduction in mass of the test sample is considered as disintegrated material and used to calculate the degree of disintegration.

A Natural Solution

Seen under a microscope, we can further understand the relationship between the ingredients used to produce our materials and how that affects the biodegradation process. Using only naturally derived ingredients, we can create materials that are truly compostable and able to be degraded by nature. Made and unmade by nature, our circular solution works in harmony with ecological systems.

For more information on our materials or any of the topics covered in this blog, get in touch with our team.

Are you a business looking for the truly sustainable alternative to single use plastics? Contact our sales team to make the transition to our 100% natural solution!