> Even if these compostable service items can’t be composted at least they would degrade in the environment, right? No, most don't. I was flabbergasted when I

> Even if these compostable service items can’t be composted at least they would degrade in the environment, right? No, most don't. I was flabbergasted when I discovered this. Until recently I thought "biodegradable" and "compostable" meant that the item would degrade naturally in the "biosphere". In other words if you put it outside and came back in a decade, it would be mostly gone. Instead what happened is the plastics industry managed convinced politicians to redefine those terms to mean "will degrade in an industrial composter". Turns out the industrial composter's they had in mind used high temperatures, and a very specific mix of chemicals to break down the plastic. Quoting https://theconversation.com/t-156566 https://theconversation.com/t-156566 : > But most certified compostable plastics are only for industrial composts, which reach very high temperatures. This means they’re unlikely to break down sufficiently in home composts. Even those certified as “home compostable” are assessed under perfect lab conditions, which aren’t easily achieved in the backyard. It appears to me the plastics industry solved the environmental image problem by getting the legal meanings of "compostable" and "biodegradable" redefined to mean "there exists some industrial process converting the material into something biosphere can consume". All they have to do to get earn the right to stamp their products as "biodegradable" is pay some industrial chemists to create an process that transforms their product into something a plant can use. But as far I can tell it doesn't mean they have to actually do any composting in practice. In fact doing it seems unlikely because there are already lots of very cheap ways to produce compost that don't need an industrial plant or lots of energy (heat). Which they've solved their image problem with a small one off cost - no need for any costly collection or recycling efforts. And no need to actually reduce the environmental impacts of plastic pollution either.