EcoHomeLife Explains is a series of short articles explaining the world of sustainability. Find out about terms and concepts around this topic. In this edition we ask: is compostable eco-friendly?
If you are interested in sustainability and reducing the impact you have on our environment, you have probably heard of compostable materials.
These are materials that will, under the right circumstances, turn into soil and water, giving back nutrients to nature. Only organic matter will compost, so if a plastic claims to be compostable, it has to be made from plant-based materials.
With the help of microorganisms, these materials breakdown and turn into compost. If you have a garden with a compost heap, you will be familiar with the concept.
Many eco-friendly products claim that they are zero-waste because they are compostable. Even some plastics are advertised as compostable. But is compostable eco-friendly?
The Right Environement Is Key
A product that is made from a compostable material is eco-friendly in the sense that it can be composted and turned into soil. This means it won’t end up in landfill and add to the waste.
So it can be said that compostable materials are eco-friendly. However, in order for the material to compost, it needs the right environment.
To start off, composting is a process that needs microorganisms, such as bacteria, insects, worms and fungi, to work. So these need to be present. The next requirement is heat. Without heat, a compostable material will biodegrade, but not compost.
As you may have guessed, compostable and biodegradable isn’t the same thing. Most materials will biodegrade, even plastics, the question is just how long will it take?
Moisture and oxygen are also vital to create an environment in which compostable materials can turn into soil. You also need the right ratio of brown and green matter. This means compostable materials that are rich in either nitrogen (green) or carbon (brown).
Only if all these conditions are right, will a compostable product actually compost.
A landfill doesn’t provide the right conditions, so if a compostable item gets thrown away in the bin, it won’t turn into soil. However, it will break down in due course without releasing harmful substances, as does petroleum-based plastic.
Compostable materials also tend to break down quicker than non-compostable ones. But it will still take much longer than it takes for them to compost. However, for a compostable material to reach its full eco-friendly potential, it should be composted in the appropriate conditions.
Because then it can be seen as zero-waste with a low impact on our environment. So yes, compostable is eco-friendly, if it gets the right conditions.
Home Vs Industrial Composting
There are two types of composting: at home and at industrial facilities. Both use the same process and create the same environment.
However, in a home compost bin it’s difficult to get the environment perfect. The biggest difference is the temperature. A compost heap reaches on average up to 25°C. At this temperature, organic matter will break down slower.
It can take months, even years, depending on the other factors. In order for a material to be home compostable, it has to compost in the conditions provided by a home compost heap.
The things you tend to add include grass clippings, leaves, paper and cardboard and raw kitchen scraps. Some eco-friendly products, such as compostable sponges, will also compost in a home compost bin.
An industrial composting facility will be able to control the conditions and create the perfect composting environment. Especially the temperatures, which are much higher in an industrial facility (between 55°C to 60°C) than in a home compost bin.
As a result, organic matter will compost much faster in an industrial facility than at home. There are also materials, such as compostable bioplastics, that will compost in an industrial composting facility but not on your compost heap in the garden.
For a product to be labelled as compostable, it has to be certified. In the UK, there are two main certificates that are known: TÜV Austria and REAL.
Both certify products or packaging either as OK to compost at home or OK to compost in an industrial facility. In order for a material or product to be certified it has to show that 90% has fully broken down into soil in 6 to 12 months.
The issue with many products that claim that they are compostable is that they don’t mention whether this is at home or in an industrial facility. And as any gardener will tell you, you don’t want to find fully intact items in your homemade compost.
When we moved house we inherited a compost bin from the previous owners. Unfortunately, they added coffee pods from their coffee machine, which just didn’t compost. We assume that it might have mentioned that they were compostable on the box, but not specified that it was only OK for industrial composting facilities.
We ended up having to throw loads of them in the bin, which meant they ended up in landfill. The incorrect disposal of compostable items is a major issue and can make compostable less eco-friendly.
Access To Composting Facilities
Another factor when it comes to the question of is compostable eco-friendly is the easy access to composting facilities.
If you have a compost bin in the garden, then that’s great. But not everyone does. An alternative is the garden waste bin. The contents will be composted in an industrial facility. However, there are restrictions as to what you can put in this bin.
For example, UK councils currently don’t accept compostable plastics in their garden waste bins. Compostable sponges are only accepted by some.
You might be lucky and have an industrial composting facility near you that accepts compostable waste from the public. But if not, you have to put compostable materials in your general waste bin.
This then removes the zero-waste aspect of compostable materials. It’s true that they will still break down into non-toxic and non-harmful substances, but it could take a while.
So Is Compostable Eco-Friendly? – Conclusion
So what’s the verdict? Compostable is eco-friendly, because:
- It has the potential of zero-waste
- It means materials are organic
- It means materials won’t break down into toxic substances
But zero-waste can only be achieved if the material or product is disposed of correctly and under the right conditions.
However, there is a lot of confusion around compostable at home and at industrial facilities. Only if a product has been certified, shown by the correct label, to be composted at home, should you put it on your compost heap.
Items that are OK to compost at industrial facilities might be accepted by your council in their garden waste bin. But not everything will be accepted, such as compostable bioplastics, and not by all councils.
Access to compost facilities, either at home or at commercial facilities, is the biggest issue. And if we have to throw away a product that would be compostable because we don’t have access to the right facilities, the product becomes waste.
And that makes it less eco-friendly than it could be. So while compostable is eco-friendly, it will depend on the circumstances how sustainable it is.
