Not really a recent development though. In the late seventies, or early eighties there were already biodegradable and compostable plastics. One UK supermarket

Not really a recent development though. In the late seventies, or early eighties there were already biodegradable and compostable plastics. One UK supermarket used one of them for trays and bags around the same time, and printed the fact on every one. I forget whether they were compostable or just biodegradable. Yet eventually that chain switched back to oil derived plastic like everyone else. Presumably price won. Here's one from fermented sugars that ICI came up with in the early 80s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyhydroxyalkanoates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyhydroxyalkanoates