SUSTAINABILITY

Compostable and biodegradable plastics

Plastics provide many benefits to society, but when they are not recycled or disposed of properly they can
leak into the environment and end up as pollution.
Biodegradable plastics have been suggested as a sustainable alternative to conventional plastics which persist in the
environment, with the goal that they will break down completely, leaving no harmful residues.
As more ‘sustainable plastics’ are introduced to the market, citizens are faced with the decision of which products to
buy and how to dispose of them. The current confusion around the disposal of biodegradable plastic products, as
well as the lack of infrastructure for dealing with them at end of life, may mean some biodegradable plastics end up
doing more harm than good.

There are a variety of products, labelled compostable or biodegradable

on the market, but each of these have different needs when it comes to
waste disposal, collection and treatment.
In the diagram below we give examples of some such products, showing their intended end of life route (green arrow),
alternative sustainable end of life routes that respect their intended use (green dashed arrow), and other destinations
that in many cases leave their degradable features redundant.

A biodegradable plastic is defined as ‘a plastic that undergoes

accelerated degradation by organisms and biomolecules such as
enzymes, forming small molecules that are metabolized by natural
organisms. Biodegradable plastics should break down to natural
11
1 materials that can be returned to the environment without pollution
or deleterious effects.’1 This is a scientific definition of
EXAMPLES OF PRODUCTS WHICH MAY BE
LABELLED COMPOSTABLE OR BIODEGRADABLE
biodegradability, but needs more consideration for applications,
notably that degradation of a polymer or product needs to be
possible in the environment of release, and within a defined
time frame.
2a 2 2b 3
A compostable plastic is a type of biodegradable plastic which
2 breaks down in specific composting conditions – either at home or
in an industrial facility – into biomass, organic and inorganic
compounds, CO2 and water. HOME COMPOSTABLE INDUSTRIALLY ADDITIVE-INDUCED
A home compostable plastic should undergo 90% degradation TEA BAG COMPOSTABLE SPOON DEGRADABLE CUP
after 12 months at ambient temperature, in the presence of
microorganisms and oxygen, in a domestic composting unit.
2a There is not currently a widely recognised standard for home
composting, but it should meet the criteria suggested above and Ideal destinations
the industrial composting standard (explained below).
An industrially compostable (which meets the standard EN13432)
plastic undergoes at least 90% biodegradation within 6 months in an
POTENTIAL END OF LIFE DESTINATIONS
industrial facility in the presence of oxygen, microorganisms and high
2b
4
temperatures (50– 60°C). These materials are regulated in the EU.2
Check with your local authority if you can put compostable materials
in your food waste collection.
An additive-induced degradable plastic is conventional plastic with
additives intended to cause triggered breakdown of the product in
the environment. Many new materials also claim to promote HOME COMPOST INDUSTRIAL COMPOST PLASTIC RECYCLING
subsequent biodegradation but more independent assessment is
3 needed to verify this takes place. As these materials are often
marketed as such, it is assumed that these plastics are recyclable
without contaminating the waste stream, in which case recycling is
the most desirable outcome. See our explainer on 'Additives for
degradable plastics' for more information.
It is important to note that while recycling is assumed safe and
5
therefore desirable for additive-induced degradable plastics, it is
one of the worst destinations for any type of compostable plastic, as LANDFILL INCINERATION
4 these act as contaminants in the recycling stream. Plastics designed
to be biodegradable or compostable can be difficult to distinguish
from conventional plastics, and can contaminate recycling streams,
so should be carefully labelled and disposed of properly.

5 Landfill and incineration are the current most likely destinations for

6
compostable plastics due to insufficient infrastructure.
Release to the environment is not an intended destination for any of
these products. Often additive-induced degradable plastics are

6 promoted as biodegradable in case of leakage from the recycling or

waste management system. However further independent RELEASE TO THE ENVIRONMENT
assessment is needed to show that this truly occurs without any
negative impacts to the environment of release.

New plastic materials are in development, but in order for us

to reap the full benefits it needs to be made easier for citizens
to identify materials and dispose of them appropriately.
In a survey recently conducted by the RSC, over half of respondents said they did not know what this
symbol meant, with only 25% correctly identifying it as compostable packaging. The seedling logo
(European Bioplastics trademark) is a label for identification of industrially compostable packaging
(certified according to standard EN 13432).

New standards needed?

In practice there can be a disconnect between the standards for
compostable plastic, and the way it is composted at the end of life.
For example, the industrial composting standard requires 90%
biodegradation in 6 months, but in reality industrial facilities
might turn over batches of waste in a matter of weeks. Standards
should be revisited to ensure they reflect the true treatment
timescale of these materials, therefore avoiding a compost
contaminanted with not-yet-composted plastic.

Applications
Compostable plastics are best used for specific applications,
where collection and proper processing is easily facilitated to Banana LEMO
#839
N

avoid loss into other waste streams, or contamination of recycling. CHIL

E
4

For example, with caddy liners for food waste bins, the best end of
life pathway is facilitated as part of the use of the product.3

PLA, or polylactic acid is one of the most commonly used compostable

plastics4, and is made from fermented plant starch. It is used for a
variety of single use items, such as coffee cups and disposable cutlery,
and is the default filament for many 3D printers.

Molecular breakdown of PLA

O BIOMASS + H2O + CO2

O
HYDROLYSIS BY OH METABOLISM

O
ENZYMATIC PROCESSES BY BACTERIA

n
UNDER INDUSTRIAL
COMPOSTING OH
CONDITIONS
PLA – POLYLACTIC ACID LACTIC ACID

It is important that PLA and other industrially compostable plastics are treated properly
to realise their benefits, which includes capturing them as a separate waste stream.

When discussing the use of biodegradable and compostable plastics, we

need to consider how to deal with them in the existing system as well as
how they will fit into a future circular economy:

PRO CON

Not true ‘circular economy’ as the material is not recycled (in

the traditional sense). Some products, for example single use
Composting provides an alternative to landfill or
✓ incineration for products that cannot be recycled e.g. ✗ food packaging, may in fact be more sustainably made from
recyclable plastic, as long as citizens can be encouraged to
because they are contaminated.
clean them efficiently to remove any contamination before
recycling.

There is debate about whether or not it is feasible to design a

Some say that all plastic should ultimately be material that will reliably decompose across all
✓ biodegradable to account for leakage from recycling or ✗ environments. For example, compostable plastics will likely
collection systems. not degrade in the sea or in cold, dry environments.

Compostability in industrial settings can be improved by

pre-treatments, or optimisation of the conditions. Most established ‘biodegradable’ products rely on industrial
✓ Composting produces useful biomass with enzymes and ✗ composting conditions and will not degrade in home
microbes, which can then degrade other plastics or natural composting conditions or the open environment.
materials.

Most compostable materials contaminate recycling streams,

Better collection, sorting and processing infrastructure, as although some biodegradable materials claim also to be
✓ well as clearer instructions for citizens, will help us reap the ✗ recyclable. Additionally, without the right separation
benefits of biodegradable and compostable plastics. infrastructure, non-biodegradable plastic can also act as a
contaminant in compost.

To ensure that the benefits of biodegradable and compostable plastics can be

captured, more efforts are needed to ensure that they end up at their intended
end of life destinations.
This will require appropriate infrastructure to be in place as well as labelling of products
that includes clear instructions on their intended disposal. Current labelling is confusing,
and citizens often can’t tell the difference between compostable (either home or industrial)
and biodegradable plastic products, or don’t know what these terms mean, nor how they
should dispose of a product that carries these labels.

CASE STUDY
Enzymes are biological molecules which catalyse chemical reactions, for example the formation or
breakdown of larger molecules. Some enzymes specialise in the breaking down of plastics.

A team at the University College London Plastic

Waste Innovation Hub are investigating enzymes
that naturally exist in compost digesters, and
which types perform the best in breaking down
compostable plastics. Their aim is to optimise
these processes to accelerate the natural
breakdown of compostable plastics.
They are also researching useful pre-treatments
which reduce the time necessary for plastics to
be broken down into biomass, carbon dioxide
and water.
Specific enzymes can even be isolated to work
on non-compostable plastics, like the PETase
enzyme which works on conventional PET plastic
bottles. The team are looking to identify and
develop new enzyme systems for other types of
plastic such as nylon or lycra. These systems
could be used to recycle waste plastic into higher
value compounds which can then be used in a
variety of industries, replacing fossil derived
starting materials. While chemical recycling
currently out competes enzyme systems when it
comes to speed of plastic breakdown, enzymatic
systems are more selective.

“
This is an exciting avenue of research which will help us provide a solution for plastic which would
normally go to landfill or pollute the environment, but for this innovation to have a positive impact
the right collection, sorting and treatment infrastructure will need to be in place.
PROFESSOR HELEN HAILES, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

1
https://www.rsc.org/globalassets/22-new-perspectives/sustainability/progressive-plastics/c19_tl_sustainability_cs3_whitepaper_a4_web_final.pdf
2
https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0606
3
Assuming in this case that the food waste processing is an appropriate treatment for the compostable plastic used in the caddy liner product.
4
https://www.european-bioplastics.org/market/