{"id":679,"date":"2019-06-05T13:02:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T17:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardys.ca\/?p=679"},"modified":"2019-06-05T13:02:10","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T17:02:10","slug":"biodegradable-bags-vs-compostable-bags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardys.ca\/?p=679","title":{"rendered":"Biodegradable Bags vs Compostable Bags"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Compostable vs Biodegradable? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 Truths No One Tells You About Biodegradable Plastic Bags<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Biodegrable Bags?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supermarkets distributes biodegradable plastic bags telling you to reuse the bags and you feel really good reusing them for trash. Or you choose to buy biodegradable trash bags rather than normal trash bags Who doesn\u2019t want to help the environment, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re like me, you\u2019ve preceded your purchase of biodegradable bags with a well-intended thought process that goes something like this: If I buy this bag, my trash will magically go back to nature \u2014 an ashes-to-ashes-dust-to-dust sort of thing \u2014 which makes me happier than imagining it rotting in a landfill. Not exactly how it should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Biodegradeable plastics cannot biodegrade if they are buried in the landfill or left in the sea.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires landfills to block out air, moisture and sunlight which are the crucial elements for proper biodegradation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s well-intentioned but wrong. A lot of plastics labelled biodegradable, like shopping bags, will only break down in temperatures of 50C and that is not the ocean nor landfill. They are also not buoyant, so they\u2019re going to sink, so they\u2019re not going to be exposed to UV and break down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Biodegradable plastics typically can\u2019t be recycled with other plastic items.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2007 study which evaluated two brands of oxo-degradable and hydro-degradable bags, indicates that neither type of bag are perfectly compatible with the traditional plastic grocery bag recycling stream, which is typically low-density polyethylene (LDPE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are related to those little numbers you see on plastic bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u21161 and a \u21162 can be recycled together, but throw in a biodegradable bag \u2014 a \u21167 plastic<\/strong> \u2014 and you\u2019ll contaminate the whole \u201crecyclable\u201d load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a \u21167 plastic is mixed in and melted down with plastics labeled \u21161 or \u21162, it would contaminate the entire load because the chemical make-up of biodegradable bags are so different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s like washing a bagful of white clothings and there\u2019s a little dark blue knickers hidden somewhere among them. You wash them in 90C and out comes you \u2018natural\u2019 blue stains on all your whites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Biodegradable bags can harm the environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, you read that right. When biodegradable trash bags wind up in landfills, decomposition happens at a much slower rate than if the trash were exposed to air, light and moisture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually, nothing biodegrades in a landfill. But if biodegradable plastics do break down in this oxygen-free environment, they\u2019ll emit methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than CO2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, methane gas gets released into the atmosphere. In fact, pound for pound, methane contributes 20 times more to the greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what can an eco-minded person like you do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n