Biodegradable Plastics: Degradation Kinetics

This simulator visualises the real chemistry behind why some plastics vanish and others linger for centuries. A field of polymer particles breaks down under first-order kinetics governed by the Arrhenius equation, with each particle's individual lifetime drawn from the exponential distribution that this kinetic model implies. Switch between conventional polyethylene (PE) and a compostable bioplastic (PLA), raise the temperature toward industrial-composting conditions, or dial in a hydrolytic enzyme/catalyst loading — a real green-chemistry strategy for engineered plastic breakdown — and watch the rate constant, half-life and live degraded-fraction readouts respond exactly as the underlying equations predict. Conventional plastic leaves behind persistent microplastic fragments; the bioplastic's fragments continue breaking down and fade, representing mineralisation.