The preparation of this chapter was only possible due to the large support from various experts in the field. Special thanks are directed to Mrs. Catia Bastioli and Mr. Luigi Marini, both Novamont (Italy), for providing valuable data from background reports and for their very constructive comments. I am also very grateful to Mr. Eduard W rdinger, Bayrisches Amt f r Abfallwirtschaft (BIFA, Germany) who provided unpublished results from a large study on loose fill packaging materials. Mr. Erwin Vink, Cargill Dow (Netherlands), kindly provided the latest available data for polylactides. Many other experts in the field, including Mrs. Bea Schwarzw lder, Composto (Switzerland), Mr. Fredy Dinkel, Carbotech (Switzerland) and Mr. Urs H nggi, Biomer (Germany) helped to clarify important details. Last but not least I would like to thank Ms. Frances Powers, RAPRA (United Kingdom) who provided numerous articles on biodegradable materials, and thus ensured the comprehensiveness of this chapter.