#mainly used CSIRO and a couple of e-pubs for my info

[resplendentmackerelsky]

I'm a bit on the fence about compostable bioplastics - especially after reading a few articles.

The most obvious benefit of them is that they're not made from fossil fuels, instead being made from organic matter, and therefore are renewable.

The second, is that they're not "forever plastics" or plastics that are going to be in the environment for 100s to 1000s of years.

However, the degradation of these bioplastics as they decompose forms microplastics that can have a potentially negative impact on the environment.

Yet, there are two types of compostable bioplastics. Industrially compostable and home compostable. Industrially compostable bioplastics don't have the same potential to release microplastics, as they're decomposed rapidly within a closed industrial composting facility (eg. a Hotrot). But these facilities are not super common and these plastics won't decompose properly if disposed of incorrectly, eg. in a landfill.

There are also similar biodegradable plastics available that degrade in landfills, rather than via composting, which release microplastics or methane when they decompose. Some of these plastics also enter the food chain or become forever-microplastics. At the moment CSIRO and the Australian government are working on cracking down on the labelling of these plastics as biodegradable or environmentally friendly.

There's also the secondary problem of access to somewhere to compost these bioplastics. My council does not accept any forms of compostable plastics in its green waste. And I live in a small unit, with no garden, so I don't have a home compost either. Because I don't have the facilities to compost these bioplastics, they either have to end up in landfill, where they decompose the same as other plastics, or in the recycling, where they get mixed with other plastics and lose the benefits of being compostable bioplastic.

In places such as zoos, museums, and sports stadiums, where these compostable plastics can be used for food/drinks and collected for proper disposal, they're not such a bad idea. But there's no point in the cafe around the corner using them for takeaway when there's nowhere locally to dispose of, collect, and compost them.