Why are compost bags so expensive?

May. 27, 2024

Why Compostable Plastic Bags More Expensive - etsus.co

For more information, please visit frank compost bags.

Although many people are looking to reduce their environmental footprint and choose plastic alternatives, the additional cost of such options can provide a barrier to purchasing these plastics. It&#;s important to understand why compostable plastic bags are more expensive and how this will help you to leave a smaller environmental impact long-term.

Compostable plastic bags are more expensive than traditional plastic due to the cost of raw materials being more expensive, less readily available and manufacturing processes costing more with smaller batches. Raw materials such as corn, potato and soy have costs associated with growing and farming as well as converting them into starches to be manufactured into compostable plastic. These additional costs are then combined with manufacturing processes that attempt to have reduced carbon, emissions, water and electricity costs. The current smaller batches that are manufactured cost more than mass quantities. The demand for compostable plastic always plays a role, as more widespread manufacturing will drop the cost down.

How Is Traditional Plastic Made?

Different types of plastics are used in everyday products from medication packaging and food packaging to toys, engineering and building products.

There are seven main types of plastics, with PET being the most common.

P
olyethylene terephthalate (PET) commonly used for soft drink and water bottles.
high-density polyethylene (HDPE) commonly used for harder wearing applications like shampoo bottles.
low-density polyethylene (LDPE) commonly used for softer applications like grocery bags and cling wrap.
polyvinyl chloride (PVC) commonly used building construction applications like pipes.
polypropylene (PP) commonly used for bottles, toys and car parts.
polystyrene (PS) used for packing,
and other resins.

You can learn more about the different types of plastics in this article.

Some of these are recyclable &#; either easily or with sophisticated processes. None are completely safe for the environment as they cannot be broken down in a composter or in landfill and they must be recycled to be reused again.

The Manufacturing Process Of Plastic

There are three main steps in the manufacturing of plastic:

Raw materials such as crude oil, natural gas or plants are refined into ethane and propane.
These two resulting materials are treated with heat and &#;cracked&#; which results in ethylene and propylene.
These two materials are combined together to create different types of plastics.

The manufacturing process may slightly differ based on type of plastic and usage, with plastic often going through molding processes or having dyes inserted for its final product. A variety of manufacturing processes have been developed to cover a wide range of applications, types of plastics and part geometries.

The heating and cooling process can also produce plastics known as &#;thermoplastics&#; which are able to repeat the heating and cooling process without degrading &#; heating softens them and they can be molded into any shape. This means they are able to be melted and recast/molded almost immediately more than once.

Why Are Thermoplastics So Common?

The most common type of plastic is a thermoplastic, which goes through numerous melt and solidification cycles without a large amount of degradation. They are usually supplied in small pellets or sheets which can be heated and formed into the desired shape.

Common types of thermoplastics include:

Acrylic
Polyamide
Polycarbonate
Polyethylene
Polypropylene
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Polyether ether ketone
Polylactic acid.

These plastics are often found in toys such as LEGO® and sports equipment (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), CDs and DVDs (polycarbonate), shampoo bottles (polyethylene).

How Is Compostable Plastic Made?

Compostable plastic is made from raw materials and manufactured to break back down into the natural environment through a home composter, industrial composting facility or worm farm.

Compostable plastic is made through a simple process:

Gather the materials such as corn starch, cellulose, soy, potato and other similar materials containing starch. This could be through farming in the case of vegetables.
Extract the polylactic acid, sugar, starch.
Heat process.
Molding.
Curing or dye added.
Set the plastic.

This process and the raw materials makes the compostable plastic bags more expensive.

An Example Of A Compostable Plastic Process

Compostable plastic such as polylactic acid (PLA) is made typically from fermented food starch often from corn, sugarcane, sugar beet pulp or cassava and combined with lactic acid and cyclic di-ester lactide.

For more how are compostable bags madeinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

This means that a mixture is created to then be fermented and the starch extracted, which is the base material for compostable plastic.

The materials fermented and used for the production of PLA are chosen as they are carbohydrate sources that are then manufactured in a controlled environment and have the starch extracted. This is then mixed with enzymes or acid and heated to break down the starch into dextrose or corn sugar.

The following fermentation process produces L-Lactic acid which is the building block of PLA.

The Benefits Of Compostable Plastic Manufacturing

The manufacturing process of such plastic is almost carbon neutral, doesn&#;t release toxic fumes, uses less energy than conventional plastic, generates fewer greenhouse gases and provides more jobs in rural areas.

What Are The Most Common Compostable Plastics?

The most commonly used compostable plastics are PLA and CPLA: polylactic acid and crystallized polylactic acid. These are often made from cornstarch with other vegetables which make them sustainable, compostable and renewable. CPLA is heat resistant and useful for food service items such as cutlery, takeaway food containers, coffee cup lids and soup containers.

CPLA is often not transparent but seen as white unless charcoal is added to create a black color. PLA is used for cold food service items such as cups, salad containers, deli posts, lids, bags (such as trash bags) and clear windows in sandwich boxes or bags and is transparent.

PLA and CPLA are also recognized as non-toxic which allows them to be utilized in medical environments such as medical implants, orthopedic devices and drug delivery systems. You can find out more about PLA and CPLA compostable plastics in this article.

Is Compostable Plastic Really Worth The Cost?

Compostable plastic bags are more expensive to purchase, however, the long-term cost to the environment is lower than traditional plastic. For those who are looking to decrease their environmental impact and their contribution to landfill, compostable plastics are worth the additional monetary cost.

However, you need to make a decision before purchasing about how you will dispose of the product i.e. landfill or composter; whether the product is marked as landfill friendly; whether you can reuse the product and what other options are available to you.

Compostable plastic is a great option as it contains no toxic compounds. Compostable plastics will break down (when in the right environment) and not emit or leave behind any toxic material. However, if you&#;re not disposing of your compostable plastic in the right environment then you should choose landfill-biodegradable so that the plastic has a chance of decomposing faster than traditional plastic. This, however, can leave behind some toxic compounds after decomposition.

Essentially, your choice of how you dispose of the plastic really plays the key factor in which plastic is best for the environment for you and your family..

What Can Be Done To Drop The Cost Of Manufacturing Eco-Friendly Plastic?

The simplest way to decrease the cost of manufacturing compostable plastic and other eco-friendly plastics is basically to increase interest and demand in the product. Like everything, demand often plays a role in the cost of manufacturing. Manufacturing larger quantities generally equals lower manufacturing costs.

To encourage the use of these plastics, it&#;s important for more people to become aware of the other options available, how to dispose of these and be aware of the environmental impact traditional plastic has on landfill and for wildlife.

It&#;s also important that resources are widely available which often relies on farming in rural areas (think corn, soy and potato as materials). The renewable aspects of these products do contribute to lowering manufacturing costs in terms of electricity and water usage.

Will Compostable Plastic Become More Popular?

Compostable plastics are becoming more popular as awareness of landfill contribution, wildlife risk and soil risks of traditional plastics increases across the globe. Whole businesses are shifting the way they develop plastics and the products they manufacture.

Each year, more and more compostable packaging options are introduced into markets across the globe, showing the increased interest in such alternatives. The current issues with the uptake or correct usage of compostable plastics are:

Understanding how to dispose of the product
Cost
Availability of a good number of products that are compostable to switch a whole lifestyle to bioplastics.

Conclusion

Compostable plastics are definitely increasing in demand and availability, providing a great alternative to traditional plastic which will positively impact your environmental footprint. These plastics are made from renewable and natural materials, making them ideal for breaking down into their natural compounds when disposed of correctly.

There are seven types of common plastics, with thermoplastics being found in many common products from toys and sports equipment to water bottles and packaging. Unfortunately, many traditional plastics can&#;t be recycled and contribute to not only landfill, but are toxic for wildlife and soil.

Compostable plastics provide a great alternative to these plastics, however, are not able to replace all current plastic uses. As interest increases in these products, it&#;s hoped that the cost will decrease due to higher demand, more available resources and increased availability.

Do You Really Need Compostable Bags for Your Food ...

If you save food scraps for composting, lining your kitchen collection bin with a bag labeled as compostable or biodegradable may seem like a great way to keep it clean and transport all those veggie peels and coffee grinds to your compost heap or municipal dropoff point. However, whether or not you actually need to buy those liners depends on several factors&#;and in fact, many experts say it&#;s better to forgo liners altogether or just reuse paper bags instead.

Here's what you need to know about compost bin liners, why they may do more harm than good even if they&#;re compostable, and how you can keep your kitchen tidy without them.

What are compostable bags or bin liners?

Compostable bags may look and feel similar to plastic produce bags made from petroleum, but they&#;re manufactured out of plant-based materials, such as vegetable starches, wood pulp, lactic acid, or soy proteins. These materials are designed to be consumed by microorganisms that help them decompose into the soil-like organic substance we know as compost.

The problem is that not all composting systems create the right environment for these bags to fully break down. Typically, only municipal or commercial composting facilities&#;not home composting setups&#;generate enough heat, moisture, and airflow to allow for full decomposition. But these facilities can also differ in their capacities, so even if your food scraps get collected for off-site composting, compostable bags may still be prohibited.

Can I put compostable bags in with my food waste?

It depends. Just as every town seems to have its own set of rules about what kind of recycling it accepts, one composting system may differ from another in its ability to take compostable bags.

The most important thing you can do is confirm with your municipal collection, compost drop-off, or private composting service what kinds of materials are and aren&#;t allowed and then abide by that.

If you are allowed to use compostable bags, your best bet is to look for ones with a logo from the Biodegradable Products Institute, a not-for-profit organization that issues a compostability certification widely considered the gold standard in the US. (You can also check here to see if an item is BPI certified.) The certification relies in part on ASTM International compostability standards to determine whether an item will break down &#;quickly, completely and safely, when composted in well-run municipal and commercial facilities.&#; It also prohibits the addition of per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), which are sometimes used in packaging and can persist in the environment for a very long time.

Can I put compostable bags in my home compost heap?

You probably don&#;t want to, since they likely won&#;t decompose well. At-home composting systems, including tumblers, in-ground composters, and worm towers, typically don&#;t generate enough heat to fully break the bags down. &#;We have experimented with trying to compost these bags in backyard tumblers and did not have much success; they composted somewhat, but definitely not fully,&#; Michelle Bradley, co-founder of Java&#;s Compost, a private composting service in New Jersey, said in an interview.

Can I compost so-called biodegradable plastic bags?

No, you can&#;t. A bag (or another disposable item, like plastic cutlery) that&#;s labeled biodegradable is not necessarily also compostable. In fact, BPI executive director Rhodes Yepsen said in an interview that biodegradable is a word that&#;s &#;too vague to be meaningful&#; as a marketing term on its own without additional context. A manufacturer can call an item biodegradable without specifying that the degradation process could take centuries or require a specific environment to thoroughly degrade. The term also doesn&#;t necessarily mean that the item breaks down into nontoxic components, either; it just means that, sooner or later, it breaks down into something else.

&#;It&#;s not a real thing,&#; at least not in terms of waste management, said New York City Department of Sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch in a interview. &#;If a product can&#;t be composted, it&#;s going to a landfill. And if it&#;s going to a landfill, the biodegradable stuff in a landfill sits there for decades or centuries.&#;

How can I keep my kitchen scrap bin clean?

Some cities suggest residents use brown paper bags or newspaper as liners for their food-scrap containers instead of buying so-called compostable bags. But as always, if you&#;re participating in an off-site composting program, it&#;s best to confirm if paper bags are accepted. For at-home composting, brown paper bags are a great addition to your pile, since paper goods can improve the nutritional balance of compost.

Stashing food scraps in your freezer is another way to keep things tidy and odor free. Tisch (who opts for this method at home) noted that if you store your compost in the freezer you can forgo a countertop bin altogether; instead, you can use something like an old plastic takeout container, which you can wash between uses.

If you opt for a countertop container, one with a built-in charcoal filter helps reduce odor. (The Oggi Countertop Compost Pail comes with a filter and is a staff favorite.) And, of course, if you take out the bin often and rinse it out after each use, smells shouldn&#;t build up in the first place.

If you&#;re looking for more recommendations about what to do with those scraps after you&#;ve collected them, check out our staff&#;s favorite compost bins.

This article was edited by Katie Okamoto and Christine Cyr Clisset.