Technical association of China’s Shandong Province releases evaluation standards for naturally degradable plastic products 
The standards’ product evaluation system uses two layers of attributes that are called “Class I indicators” and “Class II indicators”, respectively. The Class I indicators consists of the resources, energy, environment and quality attributes. Ecologically degradable plastic products may be called “green products” if they meet the requirements on these indicators, which are listed in the table below.
| Class I indicator | Class II indicator | Unit | Criterion | Evaluation basis/bases | |
| Resources attributes | Water recycling rate | % | ≥ 95 |
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| Plasticizer | mg/kg | Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate is not detected. | Make an analysis according to the GB/T 22048 standards and submit an analysis report | ||
| Energy attribute | Total energy consumption per unit product | kgce/t | ≤ 48 | Make an analysis according to the GB/T 2589 standards and submit an analysis report | |
| Environmental attributes | Heavy metal content | Cadmium | mg/kg | ≤ 0.5 | Digest samples using a high-pressure microwave digestion system and then analyze them using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer according to the GB/T 15337 standards, and submit an analysis report |
| Lead | mg/kg | ≤ 50 | |||
| Mercury | mg/kg | ≤ 0.5 | |||
| Chromium | mg/kg | ≤ 50 | |||
| Arsenic | mg/kg | ≤ 5 | |||
| Copper | mg/kg | ≤ 50 | |||
| Nickel | mg/kg | ≤ 25 | |||
| Zinc | mg/kg | ≤ 150 | |||
| Volatile gases | Benzene | mg/kg | Not detected | Make a calculation according to Appendix A of the GB/T 37866 standards and submit an analysis report | |
| Total volatile organic compound (TVOC) | mg/kg | ≤ 50 | |||
| Quality attributes | Molecular weight | — | Mn ≤ 5000; Mw reduction ≥ 70%; and Mw < 10000 in ≥ 20% of the components | Treat test samples according to Table B.1 and then analyze them according to the GB/T 36214.2 and GB/T 36214.4 standards, and submit an analysis report | |
| Carbonyl index | — | ≥ 1.0 | Treat test samples according to Table B.1 and then analyze them according to Appendix A, and submit an analysis report | ||
| Microbial degradation rate | % | ≥ 60 | Make an analysis according to Appendix B and submit an analysis report | ||
| Migration amount | mg/dm2 | ≤ 5 | Make an analysis according to the GB 4806.7 standards and submit an analysis report | ||
The full text of the standards (in simplified Chinese) is available at
http://www.ttbz.org.cn/Pdfs/Index/?ftype=st&pms=58113
