I see what you did there.
Clever. I got a plastic cup from the pizza place the other day made from corn. You can compost it and everything. No petroleum products used in it at all. Never would have know if it didn't say "Corn Cup" "Made From Corn" written huge on the sides.
I'm glad they aren't made from petroleum, but I think the "composting" those things require to actually be broken down are like really specific temperature and moisture levels that are usually found only in industrial settings. So, basically, it's still trash, but at least it's not oil-based trash!
How long does PLA take to biodegrade or compost?
PLA is fully compostable and biodegradable. In commercial composting conditions, PLA will compost in approximately 30-45 days. Composting may take longer in a home composting bin.
If I throw PLA in the trash, will it biodegrade in a landfill?
Most landfills are not designed to allow biodegrading of their contents. With that being said, PLA will react in landfills like other organic waste such as food. PLA is fully compostable in a composting facility. In addition, PLA is made from a renewable resource – corn – instead of regular plastic that is made from oil.
According to a biodegradability standard that Mojo helped develop, PLA is said to decompose into carbon dioxide and water in a “controlled composting environment” in fewer than 90 days. What’s a controlled composting environment? Not your backyard bin, pit or tumbling barrel. It’s a large facility where compost—essentially, plant scraps being digested by microbes into fertilizer—reaches 140 degrees for ten consecutive days. So, yes, as PLA advocates say, corn plastic is “biodegradable.” But in reality very few consumers have access to the sort of composting facilities that can make that happen. NatureWorks has identified 113 such facilities nationwide—some handle industrial food-processing waste or yard trimmings, others are college or prison operations—but only about a quarter of them accept residential foodscraps collected by municipalities.
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