No, I have stopped trying. The first time I came across so called compostable plastic was a magazine covering many years ago now.. It didn't degrade at all, so another year I tried putting it though a paper shredder first. I am still finding it in the soil. Some bulbs I sent for were in packets made from a similar material -- same result. Recently I have bought bare root roses mail order from David Austin. They came in large, soft polythene type bags, supposed to go in the compost. I didn't put them in either my compost bin or the council's. If they go to landfill they'll have longer to degrade, and won't turn up in some poor gardener's bag of multi-purpose compost. Let's hope that one day there will be a safer, more environmentally friendly version of polythene/plastic that will break down harmlessly in a compost bin.
Looks like I’ll be fishing the forks out of the compost then. theyll go on our bonfire when we next have a hot one, better that than either floating down a river in India into a fish or birds mouth and definitely better than burning on the streets of Turkey. cut out the middle man, or dirty fuelled ship.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Compostable means that if it goes in the green waste to the council, their high temperature treatments will compost it. But it will not break down in home compost bins.
Home Compostable means that it's designed to break down even in a home compost heap. I've only seen the Home Compostable bags around for a while. Which I believe as Dove mentions are made from starch. I use them from Waitrose and put peelings in them before dropping onto my compost heap and they do seem to start breaking down in a few weeks. I turned my compost a few weeks ago and most of the bags had almost disappeared.
So yes - I do
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
My answer is no, but only because I have never seen one marked that way. I do have some compostable plastic carrier bags and they do break down in my compost, but I don't put any other "compostable" plastic in, it goes in general waste, which is worse than if It were normal plastic where it can go into the recycling! I did read an article from one of these large composting sites and they were saying they do not like the bags/packaging in the mix as it makes low quality compost, as there is no roughage or anything in there to create
..I've only seen the Home Compostable bags around for a while. Which I believe as Dove mentions are made from starch.
I use them from Waitrose and put peelings in them before dropping onto my compost heap and they do seem to start breaking down in a few weeks. I turned my compost a few weeks ago and most of the bags had almost disappeared. So yes - I do
Some bio-polymers are made from potato starch, the solid bowls and knives and things, I believe.
I guess it's good that you have found that your home-compostables have gone invisible in a few weeks.
I've said yes, but I've only done the potato starch stuff as mentioned. Peter Nyssen have been using it for a few years. When I emptied the bins this year, I don't recall seeing any of it, so I assume it broke down well enough. We sometimes get a loaf from the Co op which is in a bag which is mainly brown paper, but has a 'window' which is a compostable material. I've put it in the compost bin, so it'll be interesting to see if it breaks down. If nothing else, the main bag is recyclable, rather than the usual plastic.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I heard a discussion on ABC (Australian national radio) where a young woman (18?) had been peeling prawns for the barbie and pondered if there was a use for the shells she was discarding. She was obviously clever as the upshot is that she is now seeing compostable disposable plates etc produced commercially and has won awards for the invention. (I think she had some help with the experimentation required to go from conception to fruition). These things are obviously being looked at and improved upon all the time.
Starch is used to obtain the carbohydrates that form the polymeric chains. It's how they're configured that's likely to give the important properties for composting. However if the manufacturer is expecting it to be like orange peel then don't expect a rapid compost at all. Orange peel and banana peel certainly persists in the natural environment long after discarding by the scrotes too lazy to dispose of properly.
Research I read a few years back about biodegradable/compostable polymers like these ones wasn't very encouraging. They persisted in recognisable form as a shopping bag after a year exposed to seawater, fresh water, earth and air. In some cases still strong enough to carry a typical shopping load.
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Some bulbs I sent for were in packets made from a similar material -- same result.
Recently I have bought bare root roses mail order from David Austin. They came in large, soft polythene type bags, supposed to go in the compost. I didn't put them in either my compost bin or the council's. If they go to landfill they'll have longer to degrade, and won't turn up in some poor gardener's bag of multi-purpose compost.
Let's hope that one day there will be a safer, more environmentally friendly version of polythene/plastic that will break down harmlessly in a compost bin.
theyll go on our bonfire when we next have a hot one, better that than either floating down a river in India into a fish or birds mouth and definitely better than burning on the streets of Turkey. cut out the middle man, or dirty fuelled ship.
Compostable means that if it goes in the green waste to the council, their high temperature treatments will compost it. But it will not break down in home compost bins.
Home Compostable means that it's designed to break down even in a home compost heap.
I've only seen the Home Compostable bags around for a while. Which I believe as Dove mentions are made from starch.
I use them from Waitrose and put peelings in them before dropping onto my compost heap and they do seem to start breaking down in a few weeks.
I turned my compost a few weeks ago and most of the bags had almost disappeared.
So yes - I do
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
We sometimes get a loaf from the Co op which is in a bag which is mainly brown paper, but has a 'window' which is a compostable material. I've put it in the compost bin, so it'll be interesting to see if it breaks down. If nothing else, the main bag is recyclable, rather than the usual plastic.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Research I read a few years back about biodegradable/compostable polymers like these ones wasn't very encouraging. They persisted in recognisable form as a shopping bag after a year exposed to seawater, fresh water, earth and air. In some cases still strong enough to carry a typical shopping load.