Frequently Asked Questions
Why are landfills problematic?
Land fills are an archaic way of managing waste. A caveman leader probably saw a wolf (they did not have lap dogs those days) burying a bone with their hind legs and thought “Hmm good idea, we too shall do.” Probably O.K. for that lifestyle…no plastic bags, i-pods, dvds, fridges and a low human population…a bit more problematic with 5 billion people hooked on buying lots of stuff every day. Landfills around the world are best described as: big-toxic-holes-peppering the-earths-surface.
Between 30-50% of waste sent into landfills is compostable. All this ‘waste’ sits in an anaerobic environment mixed with all sorts of other stuff and releases methane into the atmosphere. Methane is 21 times more damaging than CO2 to our planet.
If instead of sending our food waste and certified compostable products to landfill we sent it to a large scale compost facility we could be turning all this ‘waste’ into a local resource: compost.
Compost can then be used to reduce chemical fertlizers. NO2 is released in the creation and use of chemical fertlizers. NO2 is 310 times more damaging than C02.
How is compost created?
Compost is created by little natural micro-organisms eating up and digesting materials they can convert into nutrient rich humus, that looks like a dark soil.
This humus is what we call compost. Because it is created through this natural process it contains nutrients that can reverse environmental problems associated with desertification, erosion, over-use of chemical fertilizers, mining, and numerous other applications.
Does Compost release CO2?
Yes and so do human beings when we breath. The simple release of CO2 does not qualify something as bad per se. Rather it is a full lifecycle assessment that determines whether a process will be more beneficial overall than it’s alternative if the project was not undertaken. For example, is the release of CO2 to create compost more beneficial than if there was no composting and all the food waste went to a landfill, contributed to landfill as a waste management strategy and continued to contribute to methane release.
What can be composted?
Short answer: anything nature made. Yes that includes a whale. (OK well maybe not rocks or the Sun.) Yes even bones and tree trucks can be composted if they are first ground up.
There are some thing that we do not recommend composting in your back yard:like above said whale or other forms of meat, eggs, bones, bread, pasta and oil. However you may not want to compost a whale in your backyard (unless of course your backyard is an ocean and a whale beached itself).
Typically ‘man-made’ stuff is not compostable, unless it is certified as compostable by a reputable third party verifier like BPI. These products take a lot longer in a backyard composting process than in a large scale one.
Would methane capture at a landfill be better than composting?
The Waste Reduction Store and other advocates of diverting food related waste to compost facilities typically believe that the cumulative benefits (immediate and long term) of creating compost far out perform the ones associated with methane capture, the costs associated with that system and the continued promotion of land filling organic waste.
What is the difference between a biobased product and a petroleum free product?
Petroleum free means that there is no petroleum or petroleum derivatives in the product itself. Biobased generally means that the product was mostly created from a natural source like corn, potatoes, bamboo, paper or cellulose.
What is the difference between compostable and degradable?
Compostable means that the product will completely break down into carbon and water in a specified time frame under industrial composting conditions. A compostable product will not contaminate the soil in which it was composted with additives like cobalt. A common certification to ensure compostability is the ASTM standard. Compostable means it will usually break down under 120 days under specific conditions. Degradable is a product that partially breaks down. It leaves traces of the original product in the soil. Though these traces are not necessarily visible to the naked eye they are not natural and cannot be used by the earth's ecosystem as a food source. For example a degradable plastic bag leaves small traces of the original bag in the soil. A compostable bag leaves no trace that it ever existed.
What does biodegradable mean?
Unfortunately many companies are using this term in a misleading way to market 'green' products.
The general perception is that biodegradable means that something is natural and that it breaks down naturally over time- like a tree trunk or a leaf. Unfortunately biodegradable is no longer a trustworthy term to define age what a product is made of or what happens to it at the end of its lifecycle. Some manufacturers of plastic and polystyrene products are using the term bio-degradable to market 'green' products that are degrade into smaller pieces of plastic or polystyrene when exposed to natural elements. Some ‘green’ manufacturers of bio-based products are mixing plant materials with plastic and calling them biodegradable. At the end of the day these products cannot be recycled and cannot be composted. They depend on landfills when you are finished with them.
Our recommendation: stay away from ‘biodegradable’ products. There are no standards to define this term.
Can I just throw my biodegradable or compostable bag /food container on the ground?
No. Compostable/biodegradable products are better for a number of reasons, none of those reasons include guilt free littering. If everyone threw their compostable bags in the ocean, wild life would not be any better off than if we threw conventional plastic bags in the ocean.
Plant derived products certified as compostable help us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and hold the potential to reduce what we send to landfills. Compostable or biodegradable is not an excuse to litter.
Is biobased, 'made from corn' compostable bags still made from a petroleum derivative?
'Made from corn' does not mean petroleum free unless it says made from 100% biobased materials or petroleum free. Verify that it is compostable by looking for a logo of a reputable certifier like BPI or BNQ.
What is the difference between post consumer recycled paper and pre-consumer recycled paper?
The paper you put in your recycling box and send to a recycling plant becomes post-consumer recycled paper. Pre consumer recycled paper is paper waste that is leftover from the production of paper products. Pre-consumer recycled paper has not yet been 'consumed'. It still came from a tree that was recently cut down. Instead of just throwing out this paper it becomes used.
Should I buy recycled paper?
Yes. However try to choose products that have a high post consumer paper content. Encourage manufacturers of recycled paper products to indicate the percentage of post-consumer recycled paper. Also look to buy paper products that are made from sustainably managed forests if they are not 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
Are corn pla and bagasse containers safer than plastic and polystyrene?
These products are petroleum-free products. They do not contain BPA. As a result the health concerns associated with toxins released by products made from petroleum derivatives are not an issue as these products are not made from petroleum derivatives. They are made from corn, sugar cane and potato starch, not petroleum. Plastics and polystyrene are made from a non-renewable non-food source that is buried deep in the earth and has a very distinct geological, chemical and biological composition.
Are these products safe to use in the microwave?
Yes the Bagasse product line is a great alternative to plastic and polystyrene for the microwave. It does not release any toxins when heated as it contains no glues, no chemicals and is made only of sugar cane fiber.
The corn plastic should NOT be used in the microwave, oven or dishwasher. It will melt.
Could there be something in these products that could cause health problems?
To our knowledge, no, however, science is constantly evolving, discovering new technologies, and new health issues. We only recently began to understand the effects of using petro-chemicals to make products to package our food and the toxins they released when reheated in microwaves and ovens. We believe containers derived from food sources are better than the petroleum derivative alternatives but time, with good science, will determine if these are the best alternative or if better ones will emerge as this industry evolves.
Are the corn, sugar cane and potatoes used certified organic?
No.
If this corn is not organic are pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers present in the containers?
No.
Can GMO free corn be used to make the INGEO PLA?
Yes it can. There is no reason why the INGEO resin cannot be free of GMO. At present of the INGEO resin is derived from mixed stream corn and switchgrass originating in Nebraska.
Will the compost made from these containers contaminate it with GMO material?
NO! Anyone who says this does not understand the composting process.
Composting is a purposeful and scientific process that kills off seeds, weeds, and pathogens to create a rich humus soil. Composting is an organic process. The organic piles of food, yard and leaf and containers need to reach and sustain specific temperatures to ensure the creation of compost. There are no seeds in the food containers.
GMO concerns are related to the type of seeds used by farmers. Organic farming methods use compost as a natural, organic, alternative to chemical fertilizers. Compost IS organic, because it is not a chemically derived fertilizer. Organic farming IS organic because it does not use chemically derived fertilizers and uses compost.
Should we be using corn to make food containers?
This is an interesting topic. The corn used is called field corn. They approximate that 1% of the field corn presently produced for the INGEO resin (to make the PLA) is used to make containers which replace plastic.
Most field corn is used to make glucose-fructose and bio-fuels.
Glucose-fructose is basically a human made replacement for sugar.
Bio-fuels are used to reduce our consumption of petroleum for fueling cars and farming equipment.
The INGEO resin is now starting to use other plants like switchgrass to make PLA.
We believe that it will be one upside down world if we continue to extract oil to package our food in plastic, make our clothing, and expose our bodies directly to petro-chemicals while we drive our cars fueled by corn and lace our food with glucose-fructose.
Why do INGEO/PLA containers and cups have a number 7 for recycling?
The recycling industry number system was original set up by the plastics industry to separate different types of plastics to then sell to different types of potential markets. The number seven designation was suppose to be ‘other’ meaning plastics that could not fall into the 1-6 plastic category.
Sources told TWRS that when compostable plastics entered the market they lobbied to the recycling industry to have ZERO as their designation and to create a new category. The plastic industry refused and insisted that it be labeled 7 for other.
Products marked ‘compostable’ do not contain any BPA (bisphenol-A). Compostable food containers are made from plants and not petroleum or natural gas derivatives. They do not need BPA.
Will degradable, compostable and biodegradable products like cups, bottles, clamshells a contaminate the recycling stream?
Contamination happens every day in a recycling depot. It is not a problem caused by compostable products. In our opinion, this is simply an excuse to create a barrier for compostable products entering the market.
Ceramics are a contaminant to the glass stream. Wax/Plastic covered paper is a contaminant to the paper stream. Plastics that are not high grade are contaminants to the plastic stream. Thin aluminum is an increasing material which is starting to be considered a contaminant to the aluminum. Recycling depots either separate out these products or bail them, landfill them or find markets for things like low grade plastic and low grade paper.
Compostable products can be source separated IF the recycling depot wants to. either at home into an organic collection to go into local compost facilities rather than shipped far outside of communities to be recycled. This can reduce expenses associated with shipping recycled materials around the world. This is especially true if the public is educated to identify compostable products at home and place them in compost collection.
Degradable plastics and biodegradables are not compostable and should be bailed and sent to landfills just like other contaminants that show up every day at recycling depots.
