A report says that oxo-biodegradable plastics have no deleterious effects on recycling processes or recycled plastic products.

The report, from the Austrian research firm TCKT, says that oxo-biodegradable plastics collected in recycling programs can be recycled safely with other plastics to make solid and durable outdoor goods, like plastic lumber, garden furniture and signage posts.

Austrian study reports on the recyclability of oxo-biodegradable plastics.This recyclable performance appears to hold, even though the primary purpose of oxo-biodegradable plastics is to create products that degrade in open environments, rather than remain for decades as litter on streets or floating in bodies of water. The findings were presented by Symphony Environmental Technologies.

SET says that this characteristic of recyclability contrasts with bio-based or hydro plastics, which cannot be recycled with conventional plastic without harming the resulting products.

The company says that bio-based plastics are made to break down in controlled conditions like those found in industrial composting facilities, rather than in the open environment.