“Compostable” plastic packaging, not a solution for Ademe

“Choosing compostable plastic packaging is not a solution to the issue of pollution generated by plastics in the environment”underline Ademe in a review specifically devoted to these fashionable products. It recalls in particular that these plastics do not have a “ability to biodegrade in a natural environment” but only under very specific composting conditions (temperature, specific micro-organisms, etc.).

Ban household compost

In addition, Ademe emphasizes that composting a plastic is not recycling (the material is no longer available to manufacture a new product) and that its decomposition has no fertilizing value. The health security agency (Anses) had also last year called for “ban plastic materials from household compost”noting a risk of “contamination” of the environment or crops.

Ademe concludes that compostable plastics are of interest on two conditions only: contribute to increasing the quantities of recycled bio-waste and do not disrupt waste treatment channels. Packaging that meets these two conditions today “are very specific” to certain uses such as bags “used for the collection of kitchen and table waste, or coffee capsules”.

A major problem

The public agency recalls that the order of priority must be to prevent, reuse and then recycle packaging.

Plastic pollution is a major problem worldwide: waste of all sizes ends up at the bottom of the oceans, in sea ice, the stomachs of birds and even on the tops of mountains. Microplastics have been detected in blood, breast milk or placenta.

A little over a year ago in Nairobi (Kenya), 175 countries agreed to end plastic pollution in the world by developing a legally binding treaty by the end of 2024 under the aegis of the United Nations. Paris will host a second negotiating session from May 29 to June 2.

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