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Aug 27, 20232 min read

Bioplastics bum me out



Kitchen and bathroom waste bin liners. Doggo poop bags. Produce bags. I thought I was doing right by using bio-bags for these purposes. Turns out that bioplastics may be doing more harm than good.


It’s true that bioplastics can reduce our consumption of fossil fuels, since they’re made with renewable, plant-based resources. That’s a plus if the sourcing and production models are also sustainable. Bioplastics also lessen the proliferation of microplastics, which occur when conventional plastics degrade and are now found everywhere on our planet—and in the bodies of creatures such as ourselves. The downside is that bioplastics may encourage wasteful habits, especially in the context of single-use items. Even worse, if bioplastics aren’t properly disposed of, the environmental impact is no better than their conventional plastic counterparts.



There are currently three types of bioplastics: biobased, biodegradable, and compostable.

  • Biobased plastic may or may not be biodegradable. These products are partially derived from plants, typically corn, sugarcane, or cellulose.

  • Biodegradable and many compostable plastics require specific conditions to decompose. Conditions include oxygen levels, UV exposure, temperature, moisture, pH, plus bugs and microbes. These conditions can be met only at dedicated facilities.

It’s sometimes hard to distinguish bioplastics from conventional plastics, which is one reason why degradable plastics end up in a landfill instead of following their intended, greener path. When degradable plastics end up in landfills, conditions required for decomposition aren’t met. As a result, these bioplastics create methane gas, which is more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. In addition, bioplastics that end up in nature pose many of the same issues as conventional plastics. Without the required conditions, decomposition can take 100 years or more. A plastic cup in the wild is just a plastic cup in the wild, regardless of whether it's made of plants or fossil fuel.


While there’s been a steady adoption toward bioplastics, the United States—alarmingly—has very few facilities that can process them. In the map below, the green dots represent the limited number of facilities that can process bioplastics:

Image source: GreenBlue


If, like me, you’re also bummed out about bioplastics, here are some guidelines to follow:

  • Avoid both conventional plastic and bioplastic whenever possible

  • Otherwise, choose items that are certified by either of these organizations:

    • Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)

    • TÜV OK Compost Home

  • Avoid items made of PLA (polylactic acid), which happens to be the most popular bioplastic and the one that is the most difficult to compost

  • Check your local guidelines to see what items are accepted, and if appropriate,

    • Include “biodegradable” and “commercially compostable” items in your city compost (where available)

    • Include “home compostable” items in your home compost or city compost (where available)

  • If you too are a dog owner, I wish we had better choices

  • I like a good diagram and found this one to be super helpful:

Image source: European Bioplastics


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