What is the difference between compostable, biodegradable and degradable plastic?
Biodegradable plastic will degrade as a result of bacterial activity. In order to also be classified compostable, the degradation must meet certain specified criteria such as rate biodegradation, maximum residue of material left at a specific point in time and a requirement for the material to have no harmful impact on the final compost or the composting process. All compostable plastic is therefore also biodegradable. The most commonly used standards for compostable plastic are the American standard ASTM #D6400-99, the European standard EN-13432 and DIN V-54900. Degradable plastic includes all classes of degradable plastic including the biodegradable and compostable. However, plastic that is not biodegradable or compostable usually use the label Degradable plastic. Most of the products using the label Degradable plastic, degrade as result of physical and chemical impact (fracture into smaller pieces of plastic). Biological activity is not a significant part of the degradation of these
