*2.4. Disintegration under Composting Conditions*

Disintegration test was conducted in aerobic conditions according to ISO 20200 at temperature of 58 ◦C and a relative humidity of 55% using a synthetic compost reactor (300 <sup>×</sup> <sup>200</sup> <sup>×</sup> 100 mm<sup>3</sup> ). Sample sizing of 25 <sup>×</sup> <sup>25</sup> <sup>×</sup> 1 mm<sup>3</sup> were placed in a carrier bag and buried in controlled soil. Previously, all films manufactured with neat and plasticized PLA with ECO were dried at 40 ◦C over 24 h. Seven different samples of each formulation were employed for the disintegration process under composting conditions. Each control day (3, 7, 14, 17, 21, 24, and 28 days), a different sample of each formulation was unburied while the rest remained in the process. The removed samples were washed with distilled water and dried 24 h before to be weighed in an analytical balance. All tests were carried out in triplicate to ensure reliability. Average disintegration percentage of extracted samples was calculated using Equation (2).

$$\mathcal{W}\_{l}\left(\%\right) = \frac{w\_{0} - w}{w\_{0}} \cdot 100 \tag{2}$$

where *w*<sup>0</sup> is referred to initial dry weight of the sample and w is the weight of the sample extracted from compost soil on different days after drying. Furthermore, optical images were taken to record the progression of disintegration along time.
