Biodegradable products, such as plant-based plastics, break down into natural elements over time through decomposition by bacteria and other microorganisms. The length of time it takes for biodegradable products to break down depends on several factors, such as the thickness of the material, and environmental conditions such as. temperature, humidity, access to light, and the presence of other biodegrading organisms.
Typically, biodegradable plastics made from plant-based materials like corn starch can take anywhere from several months to several years to break down, depending on the conditions. This is still faster than traditional petroleum-based plastic, which can take hundreds of years to decompose and can have harmful environmental impacts.
Can traditional plastic continue on?
Advanced recycling and conversion technologies, can break down plastic into its chemical building blocks for use in the production of new plastic products, however, this still requires a lot of infrastructure and responsible behaviour. When you are away from home and you buy a drinks bottle made of plastic, it’s not very easy to recycle this and will often end up in a landfill.
New technology such as biological degradation, where microorganisms are used to break down plastic into smaller, biodegradable substances. It’s still in the early development and it’s yet to be seen whether such technology can be used in hard-to-reach places such as in large water systems or oceans where large amounts of plastics reside. The first step to cleaning up the oceans would remove the large bodies of plastic that have been illegally dumped or swept out to sea from landfill. We believe it’s best to remove all plastic from the environment but while this process is going on, its better that we transition to plant-based plastic because the damage to the environment, animals and humans is still unknown.
