biodegradable

A biodegradable product has the ability to break down safely and relatively quickly by microbial activity into – CO2, Water and Biomass – that is bacteria, moulds and fungi. The length of time it takes for biodegradable products to break down can vary quite a lot. So claiming a product is biodegradable does not guarantee how quickly it will be reduced to these three constituents.

Other terminology

Compostable

This is a biodegradable material which breaks down under composting conditions within a given time scale. It is almost synonymous with ‘biodegradable’ except it is limited to solid materials and does not apply to liquids.

Degradable

This term applies to materials which commonly have additives to accelerate the breakdown process. The materials are usually petro-chemical based and still take several years to disintegrate.

Recyclable

A recyclable product or material is usually separated from the conventional waste streams and routed to specialist waste separation units which will sort and clean the relevant material and send it to commercial companies able to use the material. Common materials handled in this way are: glass, metal cans, paper and cardboard. Plastics are difficult to recycle because of the many different polymers which are used; these cannot be mixed in recycling streams. Food contamination is also a factor in reducing the scope of plastic packaging going through the recycle route.