TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

EcoPure
Biodegradation-Promoting Additive System
A scientifically documentable assessment
of the EcoPure biodegradation
technology: test methods, results and most
likely biodegradation mechanism

EcoPure Technology Assessment

CE TECH CONSULTING, INC.

(www.ce-technologies.com)

Resin and Compound Development and Specification

Material/colorant/additive qualification, specification, etc.
Raw material cost reduction/material substitution
State-of-the-art resins, elastomers, fillers, additives, etc.

Product Design, Development and Performance Testing

Product benchmarking and competitive/new product performance testing
Product design and engineering through affiliation with Trendscape, LLC
Tooling engineering and design through affiliation with APAC Sourcing

Material Analysis
Failure analysis/forensic analysis
Reverse engineering

Resin/colorant/additive Sourcing
Global energy/resin market analysis and reporting
Raw material purchasing guidance
Identification of sources of lower cost materials

Auxiliary Services
Expert witness
Patent review/estate preparation
M&A assessments

EcoPure Technology Assessment

CE TECH CONSULTING, INC.

(www.ce-technologies.com)

Partial Client Listing

Consumer Product Companies

NewellRubbermaid (Rubbermaid; Sanford; Levellor; Graco)

Kimberly Clark
WearEver
AnchorHocking
Resin Majors Connections
ClearChoice
ExxonMobil
The Onecare Company
INEOS
Home Products International
Chevron Phillips
Industrial Product Companies
MA Holland
Colson Caster/Colson Plastics/RC Tenn
LyondellBasell
Rehrig International
Macro Plastics
Otto Environmental Systems
Technology Center
Hilex Poly Co.
Connections

Investment Banking/Venture CapitalGA Tech Research Institute (GTRI)

Angelo, Gordon & Co.
Alix Partners
Protostar Partners

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)

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EcoPure Technology Assessment

Charles J. Lancelot, PhD (Princeton University; 1971)

CE Tech Consulting, Inc; Founder and General Partner

Specialize in materials technology, including commodity and engineering
plastics and processes as well as thermoplastic and other rubbers; polymer
material testing;
resin sourcing; competitive analysis; failure analysis.
Ansell International, Protective Prod. Div.; VP of Technology and Business
Development
Global R&D reposnsibility for a $300MM industrial glove and protective
apparel business. Increased new product sales from 4% of total sales in 1994
to 15% by 1996.
Rubbermaid Comm. Prod. Inc. Director, Technology and Bus. Dev.; Waste
Systems
R&D responsibility for an overall $110MM annual business volume, and
accountable for the generation of $10-12MM in sales of new plastic products
annually; more than doubled new product sales in 1995 over the prior year.
Director, Materials and Process Technology; responsible for new products
and cost reductions; implemented a closed-loop LLDPE recycling business.
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TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

EcoPure
What is EcoPure and how
does it differ from other
available technologies.

EcoPure is a Unique Additive for Conventional Resins

EcoPure is not a new, biochemically synthesized polymer like PLA or the

PHA (eg: Mirel) series where:

Part performance, especially toughness, is not always at desired levels.

Despite claims, repeated microwavability is tenuous at best.
The full Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) it is not as favorable as is that of PP.
Must be recycled in a separate stream; PLA now has its own number: 10.
More expensive and heavier (density >1.2 vs. PP at 0.905 and HDPE at 0.95-0.96).

EcoPure is not an oxo-biodegradation- or uv degradation-promoting additive

that initiates a chemical pre-decomposition of the host resin to species that can
be subsequently biologically attacked, but that:

Can kick off prematurely, limiting part shelf life and in-use performance, and as such,
Can affect the recyclability of parts when they enter the recycle stream.
Typically incorporate transition metals or other catalysts that may not be environmentally
friendly.

EcoPure is not a starch-based additive or blended resin system that is partially

biodegradable, but that

Most often degrade certain resin physical properties; products are typically very brittle.
Can only be processed with great difficulty; difficult to avoid scorching.
Most often are very moisture sensitive further aggravating processing problems and
creating difficulties in use.
Can affect the recyclability of the product in the recycle stream.

EcoPure is a Unique Additive for Conventional

Resins

EcoPure is an additive that does not modify the conventional base resin to
which it is added:

It is a proprietary blend of organic compounds that are melt-compounded into a

masterbatch carrier resin, which is then pelletized.
The masterbatch is subsequently melt-blended into the final base resin (PE; PP; PS;
PET) by the enduser in manufacturing the biodegradable product.
Base resin and product retain all of their original properties and shelf life.
Recyclability of the part is completely unaffected; recycling number remains the same.

EcoPure initiates and promotes solely a biodegradation process, and does

so only in the presence of microorganisms.

polymer alteration only commences when the material is exposed to an active biomass
in a moist environment, such as in an active landfill.
In a landfill, the EcoPure blend causes three things to happen:

Renders the hydrophobic (water-repellent) base resin much more hydrophyllic,

facilitating the formation and intimate adhesion of a moisture-borne biofilm.

Attracts and initiates the growth of microorganisms within the biofilm that can
acclimatize to the base polymer as the primary nutrient source.

Promotes the active and vigorous growth of the adapted microorganisms.

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EcoPure Technology Assessment: Approach

ASTM D5511-11 Anaerobic Digestion Test

This method determines the degree of anaerobic biodegradation of plastic

materials in a high-solids anaerobic environment.

High solids conditions are usually considered to be greater than 20% solids.

The test sample is exposed to a methanogenic inoculum cultivated from a

wastewater treatment facilitys anaerobic digesters operating on household
waste. The digester test conditions remain static.

This test method involves measuring the volume of carbon dioxide (CO2)
and methane (CH4) evolved over time from the biodegradable test sample
relative to a positive control (typically cellulose), a negative control (typically
the same resin lacking the EcoPure additive), and the inoculum alone.

At the conclusion of the test, the remaining solid test sample mass and
control sample masses are determined by weight.

This method is considered an accelerated representation with respect to a

typical active landfill environment.
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EcoPure Technology Assessment: Approach

ASTM D5511-02 Anaerobic Digestion Test

ASTM D5511-02 Results: LLDPE/LDPE Blend

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ASTM D5511-02 Results: Extruded PS Foam

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ASTM D5511-02 Results: Extruded PS Foam

The digesters were allowed to continue running under incubation for three
additional weeks, after which the sample residues were harvested for
cleaning and residual mass determination.

The residual mass data below confirm the gas evolution data but also reflect
the additional degradation that had occurred to the time of residue harvest, in
that the average residue mass loss was 9.07% vs. 5.09% degradation as
measured by gas evolution.

These weights could be lower limits since it is probably impossible to remove

100% of the adhered biomass.

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ASTM D5511-02 Results: PETE

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ASTM D5511-02 Results: Polypropylene (PP)

Positive Control
PP

GPC Cut

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TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

EcoPure
Perform a standard laboratory
analytical technique to probe for
actual macromolecular
degradation: Gel Permeation
Chromatography (GPC)

Independent Confirmation:
Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC)

Plastic materials are composed of an array of long-chain polymer molecules of varying

length. In general, the longer the chains, the tougher the plastic.

Cutting the chain lengths will degrade the plastic. This can happen by the action of
excessive heat during product manufacture or use, by the action of air or sunlight unless
properly stabilized, and normally in certain plastics only, by the action of microorganisms.

There are several analytical techniques used to look for cutting of the long chains.
These are frequently used in forensic analysis of product failure, competitive material or
product analysis, etc.

One technique actually separates the chains by length in solution and gives measures of
these lengths and the distribution of the various lengths. It is called Gel Permeation
Chromatography (GPC).

GPC depends on the selective entrapment of polymer molecules in the micropores

present in the gel particles in a column. As the polymer solution passes down the
column, the individual molecular chains get stuck more or less deeply in the micropores
depending on their size, the smaller the deeper. The longer chains pass by and are
eluted first, and so on to the shortest chains which get out last.

The result is a bell-shaped curve showing the distribution of chain lengths, which is
mathematically analyzed and the molecular weight ranges reported.
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Independent Confirmation:
Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC)

The bell-shaped curve gives you the number of chains (Ni) of each length (or weight) (Mi)
in the array of polymer molecules. What is reported is:
Number average molecular weight (Mn): divide the total weight of the sample by the
total number of the molecules. Mn = NiMi/Ni
Weight average molecular weight (Mw): calculate weight fraction Wi = NiMi/NiMi
Then Mw = WiMi.
Molecular weight distribution (MWD) = Mw/Mn; breadth of bell curve.

When polypropylene (PP) treated with Eco-Pure was examined by GPC both before
and after exposure to the conditions of the ASTM D5511-02 test after45 days (p.14), both
Mn and Mw were reduced by 40%, and the MWD was broadened. This indicates that
polymer degradation has occurred through the action of the microorganisms, and that it
has occurred on chains of all lengths in the original plastic material matrix.

PP with EcoPure
Exposed to D-5511

PP with EcoPure
Not exposed to
D-5511
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Independent Confirmation:
Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC)

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TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

EcoPure
The likeliest mechanisms by
which EcoPure is achieving
significant polymer
biodegradation.

A General View of the Workings of EcoPure

As mentioned above (p. 7), our understanding is that in a landfill or

other biomass-containing environment, the EcoPure blend causes
three things to happen:

Renders the hydrophobic (water-repellent) base resin much more

hydrophyllic, facilitating the formation and intimate adhesion of a
moisture-borne biofilm.

Attracts and initiates the growth of microorganisms within the biofilm

that can acclimatize to the base polymer as the primary nutrient source.

Promotes the active and vigorous growth of the adapted

microorganisms.

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A General View of the Workings of EcoPure

Renders the hydrophobic (water-repellent) base resin much more

hydrophyllic, facilitating the formation and intimate adhesion of a
moisture-borne biofilm.

Close adhesion of a biofilm to the substrate in many cases is a prerequisite to microorganism acclimatization; mobility throughout the
polymer is also a factor.

Virtually all plastic resin surfaces are by their nature hydrophobic;

this is particularly true of polyolefins, to which very little of anything
adheres without some form of pre-treatment (corona; flame; etc.)

EcoPure functions much as a surface-active agent in rendering

the resin hydrophyllic, and being also hygroscopic in nature, retains
moisture, promoting the approach and adhesion of a moisture-borne
biofilm composed of the micro-organisms present in biologically
active landfills, composters, etc.
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A General View of the Workings of EcoPure

Attracts and initiates the growth of microorganisms within the biofilm that
can acclimatize to the base polymer as the primary nutrient source.

Largely aerobic environment near landfill surface; largely anaerobic down deeper.
Moisture is essential of course.

Likeliest points of attack on hydrocarbon polymers are at or near the chain ends, as
they are sterically accessible. Resins such as PP and PE are in a fully saturated
(reduced) state; review of the literature indicates that an enzymatically-catalyzed
oxidation process is occurring, placing olefinic, aldehyde, ketone, carboxylate or similar
functionality in place. This can happen aerobically as well as anaerobically in the
presence of a chemical oxygen source (alcohols, acids, etc.).

The literature also suggests that polystyrene degrades as well via oxidative attack and
ring opening of the benzene rings in the polymer.

In heteropolymers, enzymatically catalyzed hydrolysis will most likely occur first at the
ester (polyesters) or amide (polyamides) linkages to start a more general process.

In any event, most likely a syntrophic environment is established, requiring the

establishment of multiple strains of acclimatized bacteria to accomplish these complex
chemical steps.

Elements of EcoPure appear to attract and promote the establishment of such

syntrophic biomass venues that eventually acclimatize to the resin as the primary
and/or sole nutrient source.
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A General View of the Workings of EcoPure

Promotes the active and vigorous growth of the adapted microorganisms,
through a bacterial communication process known as quorum sensing.
Quorum sensing involves the regulation of gene expression in response to
fluctuations in cell-population density.
Quorum sensing bacteria produce and release chemical signal molecules (autoinducers) that increase in concentration as a function of cell density.
The detection of a minimal threshold stimulatory concentration of an autoinducer
leads to an alteration in gene expression.
Although the nature of the chemical signals, the signal relay mechanisms, and
the target genes controlled by bacterial quorum sensing systems differ, in every
case the ability to communicate with one another allows bacteria to coordinate
the gene expression, and therefore the behavior, of the entire community.
It would certainly appear that the adapted biomass that has begun to thrive on
the EcoPure-treated polymer system then multiplies more rapidly by a process
such as quorum sensing .
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ASTM D5511-02 Results: Polypropylene (PP)

Positive Control
PP

GPC Cut

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SUMMARY

EcoPure is an additive that does not modify the conventional base resin to
which it is added. The latter retains all its original properties and shelf life.
EcoPure is a proprietary blend of organic compounds that are meltcompounded into a masterbatch carrier resin, which is then pelletized.
EcoPure initiates and promotes solely a biodegradation process, and does so
only in the presence of microorganisms.
Testing in a high-solids anaerobic environment (ASTM D5511 test) has shown up
to 37% conversion of the total carbon in polypropylene (PP) to methane and CO2
in 90 days and a 40% reduction in molecular weight as measured by GPC after
45 days.
EcoPure renders normally water-repellent polymers more hydrophyllic,
attracting and promoting the intimate adhesion of the prerequisite biofilm.
The additive system then facilitates the growth of syntrophic colonies of diverse
microorganisms that degrade hydrocarbon polymers through an enzymaticallycatalyzed oxidative process (PP; PE) as well as by oxidative ring-opening (PS).
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