TY  - EJOU
AU  - Muniyasamy, Sudhakar 
AU  - Anstey, Andrew 
AU  - Reddy, Murali M. 
AU  - Misra, Manju 
AU  - Mohanty, Amar 

TI  - Biodegradability and Compostability of Lignocellulosic  Based Composite Materials
T2  - Journal of Renewable Materials

PY  - 2013
VL  - 1
IS  - 4
SN  - 2164-6341

AB  - Lignocellulosic composites have attracted interest from both academia and industry due to their 
benefi cial environmental and sustainability attributes. The lignocellulosic industry has seen remarkable 
improvements in the development of composites for high performance applications. Both biodegradable as 
well as non-biodegradable polymers are used in the design and engineering of lignocellulosic composites. 
Biodegradability studies of lignocellulosic composites in soil and composting environments help in planning 
their end-life management. Biodegradability tests are complex and dependent on the environment in which 
the testing is carried out. Due to this, standards have been developed by international agencies such as the 
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 
to adopt and test plastic materials in both composting and soil environments. The fi rst part of this intended 
review article deals with the classifi cation of lignocellulosic composites, biodegradation and composting 
concepts, biodegradability testing standards, and factors affecting biodegradation. A comparative analysis 
of ASTM and ISO biodegradability standards in terms of testing methodology and results interpretation is 
provided.. A special focus is given to the biodegradation mechanisms found in polymers and their composites. 
The second part of this review article is devoted to biodegradation studies of lignocellulosic composites 
under composting conditions and soil environments. The effect of fi ller type, environmental conditions, and 
compatibilization on the biodegradation of lignocellulosic composites is discussed in detail. Also, a special 
section on the biodegradability of lignin-based materials is given.
KW  - Biodegradation
KW  -  compostability
KW  -  lignocellulose
KW  -  biocomposites

DO  - 10.7569/JRM.2013.634117