Plastic waste is a huge contributor to pollution. The wide variety of plastics that are not biodegradable or compostable and don’t get recycled spend millions of years sitting in landfills or end up in the ocean.
New forms of plastic and packaging are available that break down faster to combat the problem of pollution. Biodegradable plastics are starting to hit mainstream channels and can become your new go-to form of plastics for water bottles, plastic bags, and garbage bags.
"Biodegradable" is a term used for certain plastics that break down quicker than commonly used plastics. But just because something is biodegradable doesn’t mean it’ll break down immediately. The process still takes time and depends on how and where the biodegradable plastic gets discarded.
Another difference between biodegradable and regular pieces of plastic is how the breakdown occurs. A biodegradable plastic breaks down naturally and doesn’t leak more pollution into the earth or water. There’s also a difference between a biodegradable object and a compostable object. Just because something is biodegradable doesn’t mean you can put it in your compost bin.
Eco-friendly garbage bags are plastics made out of reusable, biodegradable, or compostable materials. However, reusable bags aren’t often an easy option for garbage bags.
Biodegradable vs. degradable. Degradable plastic bags have a lot of chemicals and heavy metals in them. This can cause problems when the plastic starts to break down because the chemical and metals begin to seep into the ground and can pollute the Earth and waterways.
Other harmful parts of the breakdown process happen when animals start eating smaller, broken-down pieces of plastic. This is particularly problematic in the ocean with microplastics.
Biodegradable and degradable bags break down when sunlight and heat are exposed. The difference between these two is the material inside and how fast that breakdown process happens.
Biodegradable vs. compostable. Biodegradable plastic bags are similar to degradable bags with added microorganisms that speed up the breakdown process. Compostable bags have natural components. These bags are made with natural plant starch and are free from toxic material.
Compostable bags, as their name entails, can be put in your compost system and will break down quickly to form compost. You can't put biodegradable bags into your compost system.
Compostable bags are great for lining containers in which you're collecting food waste or specific compostable materials. If you're using them as a catch-all garbage bag, you would need to separate the contents before putting the bag in your compost system.
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