Why do Nitrile biodegradable gloves not biodegrade in any environment?

Each geographic area has a unique ecosystem that has a diversity of organisms and is different in composition. Biodegradation is taking place by microorganisms and the rate of biodegradation highly depends on the ecosystem.

Glove waste often ended up in landfills, the rich organic deposits, complex microbial diversity, and dense population help to trigger the biodegradation of the Nitrile rubber.

Metabolic processors in microbial populations are regulated by high carbon/ nitrogen content, anaerobicity, moisture, pH, and temperature profiles in landfill waste.

Incoming fresh wastes are layered and compacted in pre-organized landfill space (about 1- 5 hectares and waste thickness of approximately 10 m) and covered with soil at the end of each day.

With time the new incoming waste will directly sit on top of the old waste which has come to the methanogenic waste where active biodegradation is taking place.

Waste in the landfill becomes anaerobic within days of burial when diverse hydrolytic, fermentative, acidogenic, and acetogenic microorganisms begin to biodegrade organic waste.

During the laboratory testing, the test medium is simulated to represent the landfill microbial ecosystem, where the gloves are mixed with matured landfill waste which consists of a complex microbial population, giving the correct moisture, pH, and temperature profiles.

In contrast to landfill or laboratory-simulated environments, a natural environment like the home garden is comparatively less heterogeneous. Giving an Anaerobic condition only is not sufficient for successful biodegradation, particularly for strong polymers like Nitrile. Soil pH is an important factor to be considered, depending on the geographic area soil characteristics vary and one cannot expect a landfill microbial ecosystem underneath.