Zn lactate, 3H(2)O and dehydrated Zn lactate were used as initiator to polymerize DL-lactide under various conditions. It is shown that the latter does polymerize DL-lactide up to high molecular weight at a slower rate than Sn octoate. Zn lactate being formed when lactic acid is allowed to react with Zn metal, it is believed that the active species in Zn metal initiation is Zn lactate. Comparison was made of the two poly(DL-lactide) initiated with Zn metal and Sn octoate respectively and selected to have almost similar characteristics. It is shown that degradation characteristics of the two polymers are different, especially water uptake and rate of heterogeneous degradation. It is further shown that residual Sn concentrated within the matrix remnants whereas the content in Zn remained constant according to degradation controlled release.