Are Compostable utensils really Compostable?
Since the world has woken up to the single use plastic crisis out there, and more and more people are looking to lead a zero waste life, grocery stores and take out cafeterias are carrying more and more alternatives to the common plastic fork. Many of these new options are labeled by their manufacturer as compostable and biodegradable. But are they really? Are all utensils labeled compostable really compostable and biodegradable? The simple answer is NO! Compostable and many biodegradable plastics are made from naturally occurring polymers such as starch or cellulose. It is at this point confusion is created and compostable/biodegradable plastics misrepresented as "not plastic”. Although a natural polymer is used (e.g. derived from a crop, like corn), the utensils are still man-made in a laboratory via a chemical reaction in the same way as synthetic polymers. As a result the ‘compostable or biodegradable’ materials they are being marketed as are still, ess