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do bioplastics really decompose? - Coggle Diagram
do bioplastics really decompose?
Materials break down through rot or decay
microbes feed on them
Different environments contain different types and numbers of microbes
made from materials that microbes do readily digest
may be held together with chemical bonds
to break they may even need special conditions
Richard Thompson and Imogen Napper
check whether biodegradable plastic bags could help reduce plastic pollution
collected 80 single-use plastic bags made from each of four different types of biodegradable plastic
submerged in ocean water
buried in garden soil
they waited 3 years and then observed how badly the stock exchanges had broken
Most of the bags didn’t break down
Bags marked “compostable” were the only ones that disappeared completely
It doesn't break big molecules into simpler ones. It just makes smaller and smaller bits of the starting plastic
tied to a wall
placed in a closed box in the laboratory.
If biodegradable plastic bags aren’t breaking down, what should people do?
Reuse clean plastic bags more than once
Or take reusable bags