The production of plastics is a major contributor to environmental pollution. But there are alternative ways to produce plastics. Biopolymers are one of them. They are biodegradable and can be used as a replacement for plastics. In this article I want to highlight some companies that produce biopolymers for packaging.
There are many random options available on Amazon for compostable or plant-based bags, like [1]. Is there a reason to trust or distrust these small companies? Is there a way to determine whether they are using biopolymers in their plant-based bags, or if its misleading marketing?
Probably related to the heat required to break down the material. Home compost piles are usually pretty small and don’t get too hot. Commercial composting operations are large and do get quite hot.
I used them in our kitchen in a small countertop bin. Our kitchen and yard waste are picked up by the city and composted in high heat composters. If I was still doing backyard composting I doubt they would break down.
This is deceptive. Biopolymers or not per definition biodegradable. Just because you make plastics from plants don't make it biodegradable and it's worrying that people have started to think this – maybe from deceptive marketing. Biostatistics are also nothing new,the first plastics was not even made from petroleum.
Agreed, it’s textbook greenwashing. Just like those classification numbers you see on plastic disposables decorated with a recycling arrows. If you throw it in the sea and the bugs don’t eat it then it’s bad for the environment, it doesn’t matter what it was originally made from. The percentage of compostable cutlery you get from takeaways that actually makes it into an industrial composter is vanishingly small. It’s only purpose is to make people feel more comfortable with throwing it away. I buried some of the stuff in my garden 4 years ago and dug it up the other day. Looks exactly the same. Sure I didn’t use a compost heap (let alone an industrial one) but if the compostable plastic doesn’t deteriorate at all then it’s no good.
It’s the marketing driven aspect of plastic packaging that should be easier to solve through legislation. Plastic windows on paper packaging so you can see the food inside, come on! This obsession we all have with fruit and veg cleanliness when our immune systems need the practice is nonsense.
Also, making plastic from plants can even become a bad thing. Look at what happened to the rain forests in Indonesia when palm oil was pushed as the next big thing, even as a source of bio fuel.
There is something very perverse about producing plastics from food, I would even venture to say immoral. How about just removing plastics where possible, not replace them with different plastics.
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It’s the marketing driven aspect of plastic packaging that should be easier to solve through legislation. Plastic windows on paper packaging so you can see the food inside, come on! This obsession we all have with fruit and veg cleanliness when our immune systems need the practice is nonsense.
Also, making plastic from plants can even become a bad thing. Look at what happened to the rain forests in Indonesia when palm oil was pushed as the next big thing, even as a source of bio fuel.
I carry ~10kg of groceries home in ~50g of plastics.
If all of the earth's plastics were made from agricultural outputs, it wouldn't put a meaningful dent on our food supply.
Eating less meat would.