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Bin with compost items and suggestions on what to do with paper and compostable bags, Union Square ... [+] Farmer's Market, New York City. (Photo by: Joan Slatkin/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesWalk into any supermarket or retail store and the chances are you will see a variety of bags and packaging marked as compostable.
For eco-friendly shoppers the world over, this can only be a good thing. After all, we all know that single-use plastics are the scourge of the environment, and to be avoided at all costs.
But are many of the items being branded as compostable actually good for the environment? Or is it the case that many of us are using them incorrectly? Perhaps we assume they are home compostable, when the reality is they are only compostable in larger facilities. And do they really harmlessly break down, or is this another example of greenwashing in action?
According to research conducted by packaging platform Sourceful, only 3% of compostable packaging in the U.K. ends up in a proper composting facility.
Instead, it claimed a lack of composting infrastructure means 54% goes to landfill and the remaining 43% gets incinerated.
Sourceful&#;s CEO and co-founder, Wing Chan, said the practical reality of compostables &#;does not reflect the narrative used to market them&#;.
&#;We recommend avoiding and looking to switch out where possible in your supply chain,&#; added Chan.
Dr. Tarun Anumol, from Agilent Technologies, said plastic bags are commonly made from the polymer polyethylene, which depending on the conditions can take up to 1,000 years to fully break down in the soil.
And when they do start to disintegrate, Anumol added they can frequently break down into micro-plastics, which research shows can contaminate the soil, be absorbed into crops or pollute nearby water streams.
Once in the water supply or food chain, they can then be ingested by humans and enter the bloodstream.
In addition, he said microplastics can also attach to other pollutants and even increase the toxicity of other substances in the soil, like chromium and other organic pollutants.
In terms of compostable bags, he said many of them take between 10 and 60 days to degrade in the soil, depending on favorable environment conditions.
He said in some instances, home composting does not necessarily provide the right environmental conditions for decomposition, so the bags may &#;stick around for a lot longer&#; but still not as long as traditional plastics.
Anumol said it was important that the right disposal systems are in place to manage compostable bags, but he added this is really a &#;teething issue&#; that will be sorted out over the next few years.
But he said it was still vital that soil is regularly tested and analysed for possible contaminants to ensure safe and fertile soil.
Sarah Paiji Yoo, the CEO and co-founder of the eco-friendly cleaning product firm Blueland said ultimately, she believes compostable bags are still better than virgin plastic bags, because they are not made with petroleum-based plastic.
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But she added compostable bags need to be industrially composted to truly effectively degrade.
&#;Compostable bags that are put in the trash can last in a landfill for tens and hundreds of years since objects in landfills,&#; she added.
The CEO of plant-based fiber packaging manufacturer Footprint, Troy Swope said he believes we are &#;not quite there yet&#; with compostable bioplastics.
&#;When we started Footprint, we considered bioplastics, but ultimately we found the best solution for the planet was a nature-based solution,&#; Swope told Forbes.
Swope said they use recycled cardboard, paper and other natural substances, like algae to develop a fiber, which in turn, can be used to create biodegradable packaging.
&#;We want solutions that nature can digest, so that if it got into a river and into your ocean, it would break down will not harm sea life,&#; he added.
And Graham Rihn, founder and CEO of the waste management platform RoadRunner Recycling, said it was important to draw a distinction between biodegradable bag liners and compostable liners, which he added are designed for a very specific function.
Ultimately, he said if there is compost service available, then &#;you should absolutely use compostable products, if at all possible&#;, because it will leave a far smaller footprint on the environment than the alternative.
It&#;s no secret that the world has a plastic bag pollution problem. In the United States alone, 100 billion are used each year&#;the European Union goes through another 100 billion bags&#;and these single-use plastics often end up in the environment, where they pose a threat to animals. Rather than decomposing, the standard plastic bags break down into tiny pieces that get consumed by a variety of organisms and make their way up the food chain.
In light of these sobering realities, biodegradable plastic bags have been touted as a better way to get your groceries and other purchases home from the store. But as Laura Parker reports for National Geographic, a new study has found that biodegradable bags may not actually degrade all that quickly in the environment. Some, in fact, were still able to carry nearly five pounds of groceries after being exposed to the elements for three years.
The report, published in Environmental Science & Technology, describes an experiment by researchers at the University of Plymouth, who sought to find out how five different types of plastic behaved in various environments over time. Research fellow Imogen Napper and Richard Thompson, a marine biologist and head of the university&#;s International Marine Litter Research Unit, tested conventional plastic bags, compostable bags, biodegradable bags and two types of oxo-biodegradable bags&#;or bags that do not do not need microorganisms to decompose and therefore &#;should biodegrade predictably in any environment,&#; writes Fast Company&#;s Mark Wilson.
Each of the bag types was attached to a wall under the sun, buried in a university garden, submerged in Plymouth Harbor and, for control purposes, placed in a black box in a lab. The researchers tested both whole bags and bags that had been cut into strips and enclosed in mesh pouches. The experiment began in July , and the researchers checked on the bags regularly.
Within three months, the compostable bag in the marine environment completely disintegrated&#;but it was the only bag that did. By nine months, the open-air bags had all broken down into fragments. The compostable bag in soil still held its shape after 27 months, though it was too weakened to hold any weight. After spending three years in water and soil, the biodegradable, oxo-biodegradable and conventional plastic bags largely kept their original forms. And, much to the researchers' surprise, the bags were still functional, meaning that they could hold groceries without breaking.
&#;I was really amazed that any of the bags could still hold a load of shopping,&#; says Napper. &#;For a biodegradable bag to be able to do that was the most surprising. When you see something labelled in that way, I think you automatically assume it will degrade more quickly than conventional bags. But, after three years at least, our research shows that might not be the case.&#;
The results of the experiment have the researchers questioning whether &#;the oxo-biodegradable or biodegradable formulations provide sufficiently advanced rates of deterioration to be advantageous in the context of reducing marine litter, compared to conventional bags,&#; as they write in their study.
Some critics, however, have pointed out that biodegradable, oxo-biodegradable and compostable bags are not intended to break down in any and every environment. Ramani Narayan, a chemical engineer at Michigan State University who was not involved in the study, tells Parker that compostable bags are designed to be thrown out in industrial composters. And Symphony Environmental Technologies, which made one of the oxo-biodegradable bags used in the study, says that its products are meant to degrade on open landscapes or ocean surfaces&#;not in deep landfills or deep seas.
Still, the researchers say it remains unclear whether purportedly biodegrabdeable bags deteriorate any faster than the standard plastic ones. And because biodegradable and compostable bags are often not compatible with recycling infrastructure, the scientists stress the importance of providing consumers with clear information on how to properly discard these products. &#;Our study emphasises the need for standards relating to degradable materials, clearly outlining the appropriate disposal pathway and rates of degradation that can be expected,&#; says Thompson.
One way to counteract the negative effects of plastic bags' persistence in the environment might be to capitalize on their longevity by using them multiple times. &#;Perhaps durability in the form of a bag that can and is reused many times,&#; the study authors write, &#;presents a better alternative to degradability.&#;
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