the places around here are using compostable plastic bags. not sure what it's made of but it can be composted in municipal facilities according to the bag. one downside is they are green tinted and harder to see what is in there but if it removes some of the plastic killing the ocean then i'm for it... assuming it's not a plastic that degrades into microplastics.

▲

mook 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

> it can be composted in municipal facilities according to the bag

Note that "according to the bag" is very different from "according to your municipality"; my understanding is that most places actually can't handle them, and they might need to divert your compost to the landfill if it has too much of those plastic bags. They can be composed under certain conditions, but whether the facility your municipality uses has those is unclear.

See also "flushable" wipes that must not be flushed down the toilet.

	▲	yellowapple 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> See also "flushable" wipes that must not be flushed down the toilet. That really should be prosecuted for false advertising. Just because I can physically flush Orbeez down the toilet doesn't mean it's safe to do so.
	▲	jfim 2 days ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I'd assume those bags would be okay considering they break down after a few days of holding compostable materials, and frequently make a mess in the compost bin. The "compostable" cutlery is definitely not compostable under normal household situations though.
	▲	bluGill 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		My understanding is most manicipal compost facilities can handle them - the vast majority of manicipalities don't have a facility at all. They are expensive. A home pile won't compost them, a pile at manicipal size is likely a health hazzard and so not a good option.

▲

throw101010 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Most of these at least in my region are made from cornstarch. They decompose well/without "microplastics" but only under correct conditions.

Home composts aren't usually meeting these, their temperature isn't going high enough for full decomposition and you can have traces of polymers left behind. I throw them in the trash for compostable waste because thankfully my collectivity collects these to generate biogas and my guess is they do end up in much larger/managed composts where they can fully decompose.

▲

nielsbot 2 days ago | parent [-]

I thought it was all PLA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingeo

I think there's also "biodegradable" plastic which has cornstarch in it which allows bacteria to degrade it, but that's not the same thing?

	▲	stoobs a day ago \| parent [-]
		PLA doesn't actually biodegrade outside of specialist industrial facilities, it was much vaunted as an eco friendly thing when 3d printing started using it, but we rapidly found out it can last decades without breaking down much if at all.

▲

ars 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> but if it removes some of the plastic killing the ocean then i'm for it

It doesn't. The plastics in the ocean don't come from your grocery store. They come from fishing gear and from places without municipal trash service.

Honestly? It's basically greenwashing, it doesn't actually do anything at all. No one ever composts this things, and landfilling or incinerating a bag does not harm the environment.

▲

kjkjadksj 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I just threw one of those into my compost pile last month and it’s still there. No clue how long it’s supposed to take.

▲

vkou 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Compostable plastics don't compost if you just throw them in a compost heap, you need to compost them in high-temperature conditions.

	▲	kjkjadksj a day ago \| parent [-]
		Well that is disappointing. I feel like that should be specified on the bag instead of alleging it is generally compostable like a brown paper bag.

▲

weaksauce 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

yeah I mentioned municipal compost because they can get the compost temperature way higher than we can at home scale. It should break down in the big compost piles they have