What does the term biodegradable mean? What is the difference between degradable, biodegradable and compostable?
Biodegradable means that the material will break down both physically and chemically in an environment such as a rubbish tip. With respect to packaging materials, paper and pulp based materials will break down fairly easily. So called biodegradable plastics made with starch based materials will also break down easily once in contact with moisture in the soil leaving micro-organisms (i.e. plants or animals visible only with the aid of a microscope)to complete the process. Degradable is a simple mechanical breakdown of the packaging material. Biodegradable is the further breakdown of the material to simpler chemical components by micro-organisms. And compostable is the biological process of further breakdown to components which can be returned to the soil as nutrients. In Australia, standards or test methods for degradable plastics are currently under development.
