Biodegradable vs. Compostable Packaging Materials

In our throw-away culture, there is a high need to create materials that can be less harmful for our environment; biodegradable and compostable packaging materials are two of the new green living trends. As we focus on making sure that more and more of what we throw out from our homes and offices is biodegradable or even compostable, we are closer to the goal of making the Earth an eco-friendly place with less waste.

In our throw-away culture, there is a high need to create materials that can be less harmful for our environment; biodegradable and compostable packaging materials are two of the new green living trends. As we focus on making sure that more and more of what we throw out from our homes and offices is biodegradable or even compostable, we are closer to the goal of making the Earth an eco-friendly place with less waste.

Key characteristics of a compostable material:

- Biodegradability: chemical breakdown of materials into CO2, water and minerals (at least 90% of the materials have to be broken down by biological action within 6 months).

- Disintegrability: the physical decomposition of a product into tiny pieces. After 12 weeks at least 90% of the product should be able to pass through 2×2 mm mesh.

- Chemical composition: low levels of heavy metals – less than a list of specified values of certain elements.

- Quality of the final compost and ecotoxicity: absence of negative effects on the final compost. Other chemical/physical parameters that must not be different from those of the control compost after the degradation.

Each of these points is needed to meet the definition of compostability, but each point alone is not sufficient. For example, a biodegradable material is not necessarily compostable because it must also break up during one composting cycle. On the other hand, a material that breaks up, over one composting cycle, into microscopic pieces that are not totally biodegradable, is not compostable.