On the face of it, a biodegradable plastic might seem to be a sustainable choice for businesses and consumers, but is it?
Biodegradable plastics generally come as two types – either made from a biological material such as corn starch, or made from petrochemicals.
The main problem, with either type, is how the end user disposes of them, and this is where confusion lies.
Imagine a consumer faced with disposing his or her ‘biodegradable’ food packaging.
It says it’s degradable, so do they put it in the home compost bin? They could, but it won’t degrade. This material is only degradable under certain conditions, not found in home composting.
Should they put it in with the recycling? After all, it looks and feels plasticky. NO, definitely not. This material would contaminate the plastics recycling stream.
The garden waste bin? Again no. Commercial green waste composting, as with home composting will not likely achieve the conditions for it to properly degrade.
Unless the consumer lives in one of the few areas with a kitchen waste collection service, the general refuse bin then is the only other option and from there, it will either be landfilled, or burnt, in which case, what’s the point?