Single-use items such as coffee cups that are labelled as biodegradable do break down, but may not compost and break down into organic substances.Single-use items such as coffee cups that are labelled as biodegradable do break down, but may not compost and break down into organic substances.“Massive amounts” of plastic contamination is getting into food and garden waste through user error and misleading “biodegradable” labelling, waste industry experts have warned.
Confusion among consumers about the labelling of different products complicated the matter, said Kirkman. According to the Australian Standards for commercial composting, “compostable” products must disintegrate after 12 weeks and completely biodegrade after six months in a dedicated composting facility.“Biodegradable” products are able to break down into elements found in nature, but not in a specified timeframe, which means the biodegradation process could take years.
Ash Turner, state manager for resource recovery at Cleanaway, says that many of the kitchen liners sold at the supermarket are not compostable and will break down into microplastics that are then ploughed into the soil along with the compost. The research found that nearly one-third of sustainability claims about the products were potentially misleading, including that not all that claimed to be compostable were certified to the Australian Standards.