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Compostable Container Confusion?

Here we discuss compostable/biodegradable/degradable materials and what to do with them.

Supermarkets are hoping to put an end to criticism over excess packaging with the introduction of compostable packaging. Sainsbury's is aiming to sell most of its fresh organic produce and all of its own-brand ready meals in maize-based compostable packaging by the end of the year, while Marks and Spencer have already sold over 132 million sandwiches packaged in cardboard, with clear windows made from maize. Are these new types of packaging the beginning of the end of guilt-ridden supermarket purchases?

Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencers' packaging is designed to breakdown in an ordinary home compost bin. Although they will decompose more quickly in a 'hot' bin, these products should break down at roughly the same speed as vegetable waste, even in a 'cool' compost bin. Packaging that has been approved as compostable by the Composting Association in the UK should bear the seedling  logo (top image), although there are other logos around that also identify packaging as compostable shown here.

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Biodegradable logos


Unfortunately, nothing is ever simple when you are trying to be environmentally friendly - there is more than one type of compostable packaging! Belu have introduced the first compostable water bottle in the UK, but this product is only designed to break down in centralised composting facilities where the compost is guaranteed to reach high temperatures. To confuse you even further, Tesco have introduced degradable bags, which are neither recyclable nor compostable, but merely degrade more quickly than ordinary plastic bags.

Some retailers are heralding the use of compostable packaging as a solution to landfill problems. However, sceptics argue that most people do not compost at home and so most compostable packaging will be put in the normal waste for disposal in landfill, with the result that, as with any other organic matter in landfill, as it degrades it will give off methane. Additionally, if compostable packaging is put into the recycling stream, it can contaminate all the other materials, meaning that the whole batch cannot be recycled.

Above all, a key worry about the use of compostable packaging is that it promotes recycling, rather than placing emphasis on the top tier of the hierarchy for waste management - reducing the amount of waste produced in the first place.

Main points you need to know

If you wondering which about packaging on your purchases, please remember the following points:

  • Always reduce before recycle.
  • Degradable does not mean biodegradable - degradable carrier bags from Tesco and Co-op do not compost.
  • Do not put ordinary plastic bags or degradable bags in a green waste collection.
  • Look for the compostable logo for materials that can be composted at home.
  • Compostable packaging from Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer can be put in a home compost bin or green waste collection, but should not be put out for landfill.
  • Compostable Belu water bottles should only be put in green waste collection, not in the home compost bin or into landfill.
 
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