Both brands and customers need to know the difference. Customers want to know that when they buy from you, they are making the best choice. Your customers need to know how to throw away your packaging in the right way. By making it clear that your packaging can be Compostable Food Packaging, you build trust in your sustainable brand and help customers make better decisions about what to buy.
What Does It Mean To Be Compostable?
Materials that can be composted break down into their simplest parts (water, carbon dioxide, and biomass). They will break down quickly and won't leave behind anything harmful.
The US industrial composting standards ASTM D6400 and ASTM D6868 must be met by products that say they can be composted. These standards say that products that can be composted must break down in 90 days and not leave any harmful chemicals behind. A seed germination test is part of the testing process to make sure that the compost made is safe for plants.
Compostable products are good for the planet's ecosystem because they break down into compost that is full of nutrients. Packages that say "compostable" on them should be put in a compost bin.
What Does It Mean To Be Biodegradable?
If something is biodegradable, it can be broken down by bacteria and fungi that live in the environment. If you give it enough time (even centuries! ), everything will break down.
The term "biodegradable" is not regulated like the term "compostable." There is no set time for biodegradation, and the product isn't tested to make sure it doesn't have any dangerous toxins. Material that is supposed to be biodegradable should break down quickly and safely, but not all products that say they are biodegradable do.
A product that says it is biodegradable but doesn't say anything else is vague and could lead people astray. Because this term is so vague, biodegradable products may contaminate compost and should be thrown away with trash going to a landfill.
Some Other Words For Degrade
The word "degradable" refers to a large group of things that can break down and disappear. There is no standard for how it breaks down, how long it takes, or what it breaks down into.
Oxo-Degradable
Greenwashing is what Oxo-Degradable is all about. Products that are oxo-degradable are made of regular plastic mixed with an additive.
Once the plastic is thrown away, it gets brittle and breaks into smaller and smaller pieces very quickly. Oxo-degradable products produce harmful microplastics by design!
Products that are both biodegradable and oxo-biodegradable can't be composted and can't be recycled. They should be thrown away in a dump.
Biodegradable Or Compostable? Which Is Better?
Compostable products have been put through a lot of tests to make sure they break down in a certain amount of time and don't put anything bad into the environment. Biodegradable products don't have to meet these standards, which means that they may not be as helpful as they seem at first.
Products with compostable packaging will:
- Break down in the time that the composting environment needs.
- Not give off harmful chemicals as they break down.
- Make good compost to add nutrients to the soil.
- Compostable packaging must follow strict rules and has been tested over and over again. If a package only says it is biodegradable, it can't be composted and has to go to a landfill.