303102 Mon Apr 17 10:46:46 -0700 2006 5 29 Not About Food 0 1702083 Got this topic on the wrong board originally, but did get an answer there. Yes, there is compostable plastic being produced and it reads "compostable" on the back side; there are no recycle symbols. So don't put it in with the recyclables, it goes in the garbage (solid waste), and will break down in a landfill. The piece I got was a produce tray from Trader Joe's. I imagine there will be more showing up in the "disposable" stream; any other sightings? Mon Apr 17 10:46:46 -0700 2006 0 toodie jane 1 1702090 It's unquestionably a good thing that progress is being made in the area of developing plastics that are designed to biodegrade, but in fact very little biodegradation occurs in the typical landfill. William Rathje has been conducting a scientific study of landfills for over 20 years in the aptly named "Garbage Project" and some of what he's learned runs counter to conventional wisdom. I'm posting a link to an article (which admittedly appears on a plastics industry website, but is reprinted from Smithsonian, which is hardly a shill for the plastics industry) that summarizes some of Rathje's more interesting findings. It's worthwhile reading for anyone interested in the secret life of landfills. Link: http://www.plasticsresource.com/s_plasticsresource/doc.asp?TRACKID=&DID=487&CID=175 Mon Apr 17 12:51:47 -0700 2006 1702083 0 FlyFish 2 1702382 my dilemma remains: what do I do with a "plastic" food package that cannot be recycled conventionally, and will not break down in a dry and cold landfill? Sun Apr 23 15:33:28 -0700 2006 1702090 0 toodie jane 1 1702095 This weekend, the label on an orange seemed to be compostable. I tried to remove the label with wet fingers and the label disintegrated. As far as breaking down in a landfill, very little breaks down in landfills. Mon Apr 17 13:36:20 -0700 2006 1702083 0 Alan408 2 1702105 To me, the positive aspect isn't the degradability - as the other posters have said, modern landfills are more or less anaerobic - but that they aren't made from petroleum. Much better to use renewable resources, all the more so for such utterly short-lived and ubiquitous products, the entire useful life of which lasts at most a few days... FWIW, they've been making packing "peanuts" and grocery store type bags from the stuff for a number of years now.., guess they finally figured out how to make clear it and stretchy, too. Mon Apr 17 16:48:49 -0700 2006 1702095 0 MikeG 3 1702124 Interesting info about landfills situation, thx all. As for the "bioplastic" I've seen, it's made of corn. We get produce in it at my food coop. Albert's Organics/Grateful Harvest is marketing lettuces in clamshells made of the stuff, and there's commercially available garbage bags/produce bags showing up all over the place. Is that what all the TJs overpackaging of vegetables that people talk about is made of? Link: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/tip_use_bioplas.php Tue Apr 18 10:36:42 -0700 2006 1702105 0 pitu