How is PLA different from recyclable plastic?
The first and most important difference between traditional plastics and PLA (polylactic acid) is the material they are made from. Plastics are made from petroleum based chemicals & additives that are known pollutants and toxins while PLA is derived from corn-based resins (a non toxic and annually renewable resource). Secondly is the way in which pla and traditional plastics break down. Traditional plastics can be recycled or thrown in a landfill to slowly breakdown over hundreds of years. PLA products can’t be recycled but will biodegrade 60% of their mass within 180 days in a composting system. It is unknown how long biocompostable products such as PLA take to break down if put in a traditional landfill system. Q: Is there a symbol for “bioplastics”? Currently symbols #1-#6 are reserved for plastic products – bio-plastics and all other products, which can be considered as plastic, fall under the #7 symbol as “Other.” World Centric uses #0 to indicate that a product is biodegradable a
