Sustainability is a hot topic, but what does it all mean? What sort of products are best for the Earth and our health? Is biodegradable different from compostable. Should I opt for compostable options over recyclable ones? Does reusing things help? All of these are great questions!
So, first of all, what do all of these different terms really mean? Let’s start with the one we probably have all heard the most: recyclable.
Recycling is the process of taking a product and breaking it down to use it again, often as a raw material. We all know that we can recycle paper, plastic, and cans. In most places, recycling facilities can also deal with glass. All of this is great, but let’s break down the concept a little bit more.
Tossing something you think or hope can be recycled into the recycling bin is often called wishful recycling. While your heart is in the right place, doing this might actually be worse than just trashing something you aren’t clear on. Why? Because that one iffy thing can actually be enough to compromise a full batch of recycling, which could mean everything ends up in the landfill instead of just the one questionable item. In those situations, the best option would be to confirm before you dispose of it. If your neighborhood doesn’t recycle it, ask your city to start accepting those items. In the meantime, if you don’t know, don’t just hope it can be recycled.
Back to the topic at hand, what is actually recyclable? Commonly accepted items for recycling include paper, cardboard, unbroken glass and metal (including tinfoil if it’s clean and in a large enough ball), and most plastics that hold their shape (like water bottles, laundry containers, bottles for household items, cleaned and with lids). Some facilities even recycle Styrofoam, plastic grocery bags, shrink wrap, and plastic wrap IF it is cleaned and packaged correctly. The keys for recycling are that the items must be rinsed and free of any debris.
A full list of what is actually recyclable and what isn’t for Brevard County can be found at https://www.brevardfl.gov/SolidWaste/Recycling/RecyclingInformation or by calling 321-633-2042.
Composting is a way to turn items made of natural materials back into a nutrient rich soil. Often times the compost is for food scraps, but other items that are fully compostable include yard scraps, dead flowers, items made of untreated wood, and those made of pure cotton. While starting with food scraps is the easiest, the more you look around the more you will find items from other parts of your life that are completely compostable.
Compostable items are great because instead of going to landfill or needing to be processed and turned into something else, they actually breakdown themselves in a natural setting (or in an industrial facility) to create something useful right away.
But, what happens if these items end up in just in your standard trash bin? You might think that it’s still an improvement and they will break down, right? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s not exactly the case. Compostable items break down into nutrient rich soil only if they have the right conditions, and a traditional landfill is not a place with the right conditions.
Composting works best when the items have access to oxygen and are regularly being turned over. A landfill is basically the opposite. It’s an anaerobic environment where most of the pile actually doesn’t have access to oxygen. That means that if your compostable takeout container ends up in the landfill, it won’t break down as intended. Instead, it will mostly likely just act like a plastic container and stay around for a lot longer than intended (just like your typical trash bag).
The dictionary definition of biodegradable is a substance that can break down naturally without causing any harm. This is very similar to compostable, but the biggest difference is that what it breaks down to doesn’t cause harm as opposed to starting with an organically occurring materials. Therefore, man-made or chemically produced items can still be considered biodegradable, while not necessarily being compostable. This is like a square being a rectangle but a rectangle not being a square. Those items that are compostable are also biodegradable, but not everything biodegradable is compostable.
Again, biodegradable options are still a step in the right direction. It does mean that the ingredients break down over time (that’s a perk) and when they do break down, the base components are not harmful to the environment (also a perk).
One drawback of biodegradable materials is that there is not necessarily a timeframe for when the items will break down. It could be many years before they start to degrade. In most cases, biodegradable isn’t really saying much about the product. Think of it the same way you do products labeled “natural.”
The bottom line, if we were to rank these terms for which ones are best for the planet and in turn our health, we’d say first look for items that are compostable, recyclable, and lastly biodegradable. Compostable items, if properly disposed of, will break down completely and can then be used to grow more resources. Recyclable items can be turned into raw materials that can then be used to make new things without needing to create completely new resources. Finally, biodegradable options will eventually break down, but we don’t know when and there is no plan to use them for any additional benefit.
Of course, we are big proponents of reusing items when possible, but we also know that it can be incredibly hard to live your life without there being some items needing to be disposed of. So, go with this information to help you think about what to toss and how to do it best.
Condensed and paraphrased. Full and original article published by Center for Environmental Health, July 1, 2019 Emma Zang-Schwartz, MPH, Biodegradable vs Compostable vs Recyclable.