{"id":4896,"date":"2014-02-25T15:30:06","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T22:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oregonstate.edu\/sustainability\/blog\/?p=4896"},"modified":"2014-02-25T15:30:06","modified_gmt":"2014-02-25T22:30:06","slug":"recycling-mythbusters-biodegradable-vs-compostable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/2014\/02\/25\/recycling-mythbusters-biodegradable-vs-compostable\/","title":{"rendered":"Recycling Mythbusters: Biodegradable vs. Compostable"},"content":{"rendered":"
If you throw a biodegradable item into the compost at home, it will break down into a more natural form \u2013 for instance, biodegradable paper will turn into tiny bits of paper. However it will not offer nutrients to the soil in a compost bin. This is why biodegradable products do not belong in compost bins. However, it is morally difficult to throw biodegradable items into the trash can because landfills typically do not offer the moisture- and sunshine-rich biome that biodegradable products need in order to break down into their smallest and most basic form.<\/div>\n
<\/span>For an item to be compostable, it must break down into organic materials that can offer nutrients to the soil and plants around it (the technical term is humus: any organic material that has reached a point of stability and can offer those healthy nutrients). Compostable items are usually food waste, such as apple cores, banana peels, orange rinds, etc. Very rarely do any other products qualify to be thrown into the compost bin. Although plenty of products are sold as biodegradable, plant-based, or bio-based, these are not compostable.<\/div>\n
<\/span>To be safe, your compost bin with all its delicate plants and bugs and worms should not have any products other than food waste in it. Keep the compost bin clear of any plant-based products, because although they can biodegrade, they cannot offer your plants anything but an obstacle to grow around.<\/div>\n
\n

By Mythbusters Rachel Tholl and Kyle Reed<\/p>\n

Who are the Recycling Mythbusters?<\/h3>\n

We are Kyle “Reedcycler” Reed, Amanda “Jill of All Trades” Abbott and Rachel “Waste Watcher” Tholl. This term we will be introducing you to some recycling-based myths, and busting them so you don\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>
From left to right: Amanda Abbott, Rachel Tholl, and Kyle Reed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Together we are the\u00a0Recycling Mythbusters<\/em>.<\/p>\n

We don’t just tell the myths, we put them to rest.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Myth: If something is biodegradable, it is also compostable. <\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

When something is called biodegradable, it means that it will break down into smaller parts after being disposed of. However, being biodegradable does not mean that it is also compostable. The largest reason for this is that while a biodegradable item may break down into smaller bits, these components may not be able to provide any nutrients when used as compost.<\/p>\n

\"Click<\/a>
Click on this image to watch a video about composting in the PRC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
For an item to be compostable, it must break down into organic materials that can offer nutrients to the soil and plants around it (the technical term is humus: any organic material that has reached a point of stability and can offer those healthy nutrients). And while some items may indeed do this, they must do so within the 90 day composting process to be accepted as compostable at the Pacific Region Compost<\/a> (PRC) facility. Here, compostable items are subjected to high temperatures, which assists in breaking them down.<\/div>\n

Compost made at the PRC is sold to local businesses, farmers, gardeners, and landscapers around Corvallis and the surrounding areas.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Want<\/a>
Want to learn more about composting in your department? Click here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Compostable items sent to the PRC include: food waste (such as apple cores, banana peels, orange rinds, etc.), paper towels and napkins, tea bags and coffee grounds, 100% paper plates, and compostable servingware. Although plenty of products are sold as biodegradable, plant-based, or bio-based, these are not necessarily compostable, and only servingware specifically labelled as compostable should be put into a compost or yard debris bin.<\/p>\n

If you are the owner of your own compost, or are using a department composting worm bin, you’d best leave out large items like compostable servingware, as they will take much longer to break down than food waste or fibrous paper.<\/p>\n

If you’d like to learn more about composting on campus, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This post is part of our <\/span>\u201cRecycling Mythbusters\u201d blog series<\/a>, where we focus on busting common misconceptions about recycling. Tune in every week to learn more.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you throw a biodegradable item into the compost at home, it will break down into a more natural form \u2013 for instance, biodegradable paper will turn into tiny bits of paper. However it will not offer nutrients to the soil in a compost bin. This is why biodegradable products do not belong in compost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5035,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1292115,1292119],"tags":[626455,608247],"class_list":["post-4896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-recycling","category-waste-reduction","tag-recycling-mythbusters","tag-waste-reduction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5035"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4896\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}