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by iso1337 2694 days ago
Most compostable bio plastics are made of Poly-lactic acid (lactic acid is the stuff that gives that burning feeling in your muscles after a workout) from corn.

PLA can compost in industrial sites, but (edit: add a not here) in normal environments, perhaps that is the reason for your quote marks.

So at least the bulk of the material in the bioware is pretty safe, especially when compared against PFA/PFOAs. That's not to say that it's impossible to mix PLA with some other, unsafe chemicals.
1 comments
contingencies 2694 days ago
IIRC biostarch PLA can be produced from any industrial waste product high in cellulose. In practice this would include for example sugar cane in addition to corn husks. It is often said that they will completely degrade within 14 days in a warm vegetative compost environment. How closely a typical landfill replicates this optimal, aerated environment is questionable. Anyway, they are a lot better to have discarded around the planet than most plastic. The problem is that they are extremely energy inefficient to produce.

Traditional polymers: Oil in, power in, cheap product out, correct disposal and recycling required or planet suffers.

Biostarch polymers: Industrial waste in, huge amount of power in, comparable but more expensive product out (but can be relied on to biodegrade eventually if incorrectly disposed of).

The real solution is better food distribution systems with more efficient and re-usable packaging and cutlery, so that disposal is not required.

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iso1337 2694 days ago
Yeah, re-use is always preferable. It often goes against ever-increasing standard of hygiene.

It used to be common to collect used glass bottles and re-use them. That practice still happens in countries like Thailand and Vietnam.

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felix_nagaand 2694 days ago
Still happens in America today. I refilled a glass jug at a local brewery today. $5 deposit on a 750ml bottle, can return for the deposit or just leave it in the car and get it refilled at just about any brewery, even some liquor stores, restaurants and grocery stores.
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contingencies 2694 days ago
Better food distribution systems would also remove, for example, the need for personal motor vehicles, personal grocery trips, spatially inefficient retail spaces, the non-ideal refrigeration and other concerns deriving from food safety concerns in such spaces, and even individual package labeling.
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