Bioseniatic™ (bī-ō-sē-nē-a-tik) criteria

Leadership in the UGA New Materials Institute coined the term “Bioseniatic™” from the medical term “senium,” which describes the final stage of a normal life span. We introduced this term on our website in February 2020 and into the lexicon, via presentations at conferences, in 2019 to describe a new generation of materials and products that are biologically degraded. How are these materials and products degraded by nature? They are consumed by microbes in the receiving environment, which is the environment the material or product lands in once a consumer has disposed of it. Materials and products that meet our laboratory’s Bioseniatic™ criteria may come from nature or be synthetic, but regardless of their source, all are biologically degraded and non-toxic, which makes them safe for animals, people and our planet.

The following criteria must be met to achieve our standard for Bioseniatic™ materials and/or products:

Naturally-sourced or synthetically-derived polymers with no additives or chemical modifications to their structure that prevent them from being biologically converted into a non-polymeric form of naturally occurring, non-toxic compounds at a rate congruous with natural analogues.

The UGA New Materials Institute features a Bioseniatic℠ Laboratory that specifically aims to test materials and/or products which possess the chemical and structural characteristics that afford a high chance of at least 90% conversion to biogases, water, or non-toxic compounds in reasonable time frames in simulated managed or mismanaged environments.