We’re all in it together in the fight against climate change and it’s always heartening to hear of new products and ideas coming to the fore that can help reduce the amount of waste that human activity produces.
Of course, given the amount of people on the planet, it is impossible to prevent waste from being created entirely, so having readily available alternatives that are more eco-friendly is a must if we’re to address the global landfill situation.
Becoming zero waste is a journey for both individuals and companies alike, but it’s an eye-opening and illuminating one, and one that has all sorts of rewards and benefits associated with it.
It’s great to see businesses of all shapes and sizes seeing what can be achieved, as they have greater power behind them to seriously enact change - and now we could soon see compostable packaging become a more typical option for products in the near future.
A new poll has just revealed that 85 per cent of people think more packaging of this kind should be used to wrap food instead of plastic. According to Circular Online, 67 per cent of those asked said they were worried about more plastic waste during lockdown.
And when they were asked about whether the food industry, the government or consumers themselves should assume the greatest responsibility for reducing plastic packaging, 69 per cent said they thought the food industry should take the lead. Interestingly, 58 per cent of survey respondents said they would pay more for food if it came in compostable materials.
Anything with a compostable label means it has been made from natural materials like starch and can decompose into compost without any toxic residence being produced in the breakdown process.
It is important to note, however, that compostable products are unsuitable for home composting unless they have been certified as home compostable.
As with anything these days, always check the label before throwing something away, so that you know you’re disposing of it in the most responsible way.
It’s also important to know the difference between compostable and biodegradable, as this can help you work out what items should go in which bin and what you may need to do something different with.
Biodegradable means that something can be broken down naturally by microorganisms like bacteria under certain conditions, with the right humidity and temperature. But just because something is biodegradable doesn’t mean that it won’t take a long time for certain products to decompose.
It can take years for items to biodegrade… and when you think it can take two years for something like a banana skin to biodegrade when binned, it puts manmade materials into a bit of perspective.
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