What is the definition of biodegradable?
A biodegradable item decomposes naturally within a year with the help of microorganisms and other bio-processes. When biodegradable products are exposed to nature, including oxygen and moisture, they break down relatively efficiently.
Here are four examples of biodegradable items (one year or less to biodegrade with enough oxygen and moisture):
- Organic cotton (takes 5 months to biodegrade).
- Sawdust (takes 6 months to biodegrade)
- Polylactide aliphatic copolymer (CPLA) (takes 5-6 months to biodegrade)
- Biodegradable diaper (takes 1 year to biodegrade)
However, when biodegradable materials are thrown into a landfill where they are not subjected to natural decomposition (they’re deprived of oxygen and moisture), they break down very slowly and create methane gas in the process.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 25+ times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, and is therefore a significant pollutant when it comes to climate change and carbon emission. When it comes to plastics, biodegradable plastics cause a range of water issues, so reducing rather than recycling & reusing plastic should always be prioritized.
Definition of biodegradable
What happens to non-biodegradable waste?
There are many items that would be considered non-biodegradable, and though they will eventually break down, the time it takes for this to occur is much longer. Consider, for instance, these five examples of non-biodegradable items (more than one year to biodegrade):
- Cigarette filter (takes 10 years to biodegrade)
- Plastic (never fully biodegrades)
- Aluminum cans (80 to 200 years to biodegrade)
- Glass bottles (1 million years to biodegrade)
- Rubber tires (80 years to biodegrade)