Compostable vs. Biodegradable

In the current discussions about the green products and especially eco-friendly packaging solutions, two words come up almost immediately: Compostable and Biodegradable. But what do they actually mean and which one is the one we are looking for when talking about doing something good to our environment?

A product is “biodegradable” if it can break down by itself in nature, under the influence of bacteria, fungi and/or other biological processes. From that point of view all Plastics are technically biodegradable since eventually they will break down. It just might take decades or centuries to happen.

When a manufacturer says their products are biodegradable, they mean it will break down when put in a land fill. Important is to take note of the time it will need to degrade. Some products degrade in months, others degrade in years. When shopping for green products, the less time products need to degrade when put in a landfill, the better for our environment.

Looking at it in simple way "composting" is the process of recycling organic waste so that it can eventually be reused  for example as fertilizer for your soil.

In the packaging world, the meaning of compostable is a bit different. When a manufacturer says their products are “compostable” it mean they can be turned into compost if being processed in an industrial composting plant. Compostable products do not always degrade naturally in a landfill. They have to be collected and being brought to the right environment which most of the times only can be found at industrial composting plants.

With a proper waste management process in place, compostable products are great for the environment. I needs to be ensured that in the end the products are going to specialized composting plant.

In a nut shell: The major between compostable and biodegradable (as per above definition) is that compostable products require specific conditions at specialized facilities in order to break down, whereas biodegradable products do break down biologically in open nature. Typically composting is a faster process, but only under the right conditions. Both of these kinds of products are better for the environment than plastic products that can take centuries to degrade when being left in nature.