With single-use plastic trashing our landfills and killing marine life, the effort to switch to compostable, biodegradable plastic is on the agenda of every responsible corporation.
Plastic has a lifespan of anywhere between ten years to 450 years, and it’s no surprise that environmentalists often condemn its use as a huge factor in natural destruction. But did you know that the technology for self-destructive plastic has been around for a while now – 50 years to be exact?
In August 1971, Science News published an article about Dr. James Guillet, a chemist at the University of Toronto, creating a plastic that can break down in a month. The technique is based on photooxidation or exposure to light. Light leads the polymer to degrade quickly and become brittle.
Guillet then said that if the oxidation rate can be controlled, scientists already have the key to making plastic degrade at will. Without a surprise, the study has propelled more ventures to use plastic. After all, it’s a sturdy and cheap matter, and the then-recent research shed a positive light on plastic.
Why isn’t it helping us now?
If the technique for plastic that breaks down has been around since the 70s, then why do we still have a plastic problem five decades later?
Simple – the technique didn’t work every time. And when it did, the result wasn’t as nature-friendly as compostable biodegradable plastic.
Let’s look at the first factor. Plastics designed at that time were meant to be exposed to light to break up. However, garbage heaps in landfills only expose a small number of plastics to light.
Added to that, breaking down plastics through surface reactions causes them to turn into tiny pieces. And yes, it’s no longer visible to the naked eye – out of sight, out of mind. Until it comes back to haunt us, that is. These tiny pieces often turn up in the ecosystem, causing harm to flora and fauna.
The workaround: compostable, biodegradable plastic
Nowadays, scientists have come up with better ideas to solve the ever-rising plastic waste rates. In fact, it’s not new to us to get compostable plastic bags or biodegradable plastic bags when shopping.
Over the past decades, we’ve seen the rise not only of compostable biodegradable plastic but also oxo-degradable plastic. However, it’s crucial to know the difference between these matters to ensure that we’re making the best choice for Mother Nature.
We can segment compostable biodegradable plastic into two: compostable and biodegradable. Biodegradable plastics can break down into natural matters in the landfill. However, this is not always a good thing because, as seen in the 1970s case study, it could turn into microplastics. In short, it can still pollute nature in the long run. The same holds true with oxo-degradable plastic.
Compostable plastic, on the other hand, is much better. It can fully break down into soil-like matter, very much like food waste. Often, these plastics consist of fibers from corn, flax, or bamboo.
But just like any other compost heap, this plastic needs certain conditions to break down. For instance, they need oxygen and high temp to fall apart. In fact, you need to take these products to the waste facility to dispose of them. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be in the right state to break down as it should. That being said, this plastic is surely a lot better than its other versions that could take hundreds of years to break down.
Choosing plastic that could break down and not pollute nature is surely a good move. But in the end, it still boils down to reducing waste and refusing plastic as much as one can.
