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Technical University of Crete
Technical University of Crete
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| URI: | http://purl.tuc.gr/dl/dias/BC8A8218-04ED-4204-9587-0F05BA6F6132 | ||
| Year | 2024 | ||
| Type of Item | Diploma Work | ||
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| Bibliographic Citation | Elli Chroni, "Fate of high density polyethylene film (HDPE) and polygalactic acid (PLA) film in agriculture soil", Diploma Work, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece, 2024 https://doi.org/10.26233/heallink.tuc.99495 | ||
| Appears in Collections |
Plastic is a material that is an integral part of modern life. However, despite its advantages, it is considered as one of the most important pollutants of the environment, with ecological effects as well as on organisms. The impact of plastics on marine ecosystems has been studied in contrast to terrestrial ecosystems. Plastics are widely used in agriculture, as material for geotextiles, as greenhouse linings and in various other activities, resulting in plastic fragments ending up in the soil. A new solution to the chronic problem of plastic pollution is the use of bioplastics. Bioplastics are polymers made from renewable raw materials and can be biodegradable, however not all bioplastics are biodegradable. The purpose of this thesis is to study the ability of microorganisms, collected from the olive farming soil from the area of Technical University of Crete campus at Chania and the tomato farming soil from Falasarna Chania, to biodegrade high density polyethylene film (HDPE) and polylactic acid (PLA) film. In particular, the biodegradation of the films was studied without the influence of solar radiation in soil microcosms, as the films were buried under the soil surface. The duration of the experiment was about 6 months (168 days) and 48 samples of HDPE films and 48 PLA films were analyzed. For this thesis several measurements were performed such as biofilm-related measurements (biofilm area, proteins, cell count), ATR-FTIR, total organic carbon (TOC) concentration.The microorganisms of the two agricultures soil were grown on the surface of high-density polyethylene and polylactic acid. Although the measurements did not show any consistent growth pattern, the differences detected in the olive soil samples and the tomato soil samples indicate how important the environment and its parameters are for the growth of microorganisms. In addition, the PLA bioplastic did not appear to degrade more easily than the HDPE samples, which underlines that although it is considered a biodegradable plastic if there are not the right conditions that favor its degradation by microorganisms, it will remain in the soil without undergoing many changes.
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