A modified plastic (left) breaks down after just three days in standard compost (right) and entirely after two weeks. (UC Berkeley photo by Ting Xu) Biodegradable plastics have been advertised as one solution to the plastic pollution problem bedeviling the world, but today’s “compostable” plastic bags, utensils and cup lids don’t break down during typical composting and contaminate other recyclable plastics, creating headaches for recyclers. Most compostable plastics, made primarily of the polyester known as polylactic acid, or PLA, end up in landfills and last as long as forever plastics. University of California, Berkeley, scientists have now invented a way to make these compostable plastics break down more easily, with just heat and water, within a few weeks, solving a problem that has flummoxed the plastics industry and environmentalists. “...

More and more people are looking for ways to avoid consuming plastic products and adding to the growing amount of plastic waste ending up in our landfill and  oceans, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. While some people are going the zero waste route, others are looking for eco-friendly plastic alternatives, such as a compostable phone case, for everyday products. One of those alternatives is products made out of biodegradable or compostable materials. Although biodegradable plastics and biobased compostable plastics are not new alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastics, there still seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding “greener” plastic products. Much like the education needed to properly sort recyclables (which let’s face it, can STILL be rather confusing) here are a few things you should kn...

The term “biodegradable” when used for marketing purposes includes a time component regarding the length of time it takes for the plastic to fully degrade. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s “Green Guides”: “It is deceptive to make an unqualified degradable claim for items entering the solid waste stream if the items do not completely decompose within one year after customary disposal. Unqualified degradable claims for items that are customarily disposed in landfills, incinerators, and recycling facilities are deceptive because these locations do not present conditions in which complete decomposition will occur within one year."  Plastics are derived from organic products. The materials used in the production of plastics are natural products such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, crude oil. Crude oil is a c...

What are the challenges? Plastics are a key material in modern life. They are versatile, light and can be produced at relatively low cost. Currently, only about 1 % of plastics and plastic products on the global market are considered bio-based, compostable and/or biodegradable (European Bioplastics e.V., 2020b). Most plastics continue to be made from fossil fuels in a process that contributes to increased greenhouse gas emissions along their value chain. Indeed, plastics pollute throughout their life cycle from production, to use and finally through their disposal. Recycling rates of plastic are low and plastics leak into the environment through, for example, littering, improper waste management and wear and tear of products. They can stay in nature for many years and potentially enter the food chain. Contamination with plastic particles is a particular challenge in term...