Best Biodegradable Garbage Bags Small Medium and Large

The Problem with Plastic Bags

Plastic bags start out as fossil fuels and end up as toxic waste in landfills, our forests and the ocean. Animals often mistake shredded plastic bags for food, filling their stomachs with toxic debris. It’s nearly impossible for marine animals, especially sea turtles, to distinguish between jellyfish and floating plastic bags in the ocean. Fish eat thousands of tons of plastic a year, transferring it up the food chain to bigger fish and marine mammals. Microplastics are also consumed by people through the food we eat and in the air we breath. It’s estimated that people can consume up to the equivalent of a credit card of plastic every week, and it is expected that there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. To help with the environmental degradation caused by plastic, scroll to the bottom find the best biodegradable garbage bags small, medium and large sizes.

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What’s the Difference Between Biodegradable Garbage Bags and Compostable Garbage Bags?

Biodegradable Garbage Bags

Biodegradable and degradable bags are typically just petrochemical-based plastic manufactured in such a way that exposure to certain environments will help it break down faster. You might see words like “photodegradable” or “oxo-degradable”, which means bags that break down in sunlight or air, respectively.

This means biodegradable bags are basically fancy plastic bags that break down a bit quicker in the proper environment. When they enter our environment, they’re just as bad as regular plastic bags despite being more expensive!

Biodegradable bags also cannot be recycled like other plastics as they will contaminate otherwise properly sorted recyclables.

Compostable Garbage Bags

Compostable bags are made of natural plant starch, and do not produce any toxic material. Certified compostable bags break down readily in a composting system through microbial activity to form compost. Compostable bags are especially good for use with kitchen compost waste and compostable toilets so that they break down when added to your outside compost pile.

Which is Better Compostable or Biodegradable Garbage Bags?

For actually biodegrading and breaking down in the environment into non-toxic materials, compostable bags are the clear winner.

If you’re wondering where to buy biodegradable trash bags – go for compostable instead. Even the best biodegradable bags can’t compete with compostable bags. Compostable bags are plant based not petrochemical based and break down into non-toxic compost.

According to a recent study, bags labeled degradable and biodegradable were still able to carry a load of groceries after 3 years in the soil!

The same study found that compostable bags were still intact after 3 years but were degraded enough that they couldn’t carry weight. However, within three months, the compostable bags did completely break down in a marine environment.

How to Tell if a Compostable Bag will Actually Compost?

Check the packaging for the following certifications:

The Compostable Logo (The Biodegradable Products Institute): The logo indicates that the product meets either ASTM D6400 (includes bags) and/or ASTM D6868 (for packaging).

European Bioplastics Standard: This standard, EN 13432 is used for compostable materials that disintegrate after 12 weeks and fully biodegrade after six months.

The Australian Standard Logo: The AS 5810 is one of the few standards indicating home compostability. AS 4736 is also commonly used, meaning suitability in commercial composting facilities.

TUV AUSTRIA: They provide three different certifications, OK COMPOST HOME S0014 (okay for home composting systems); SOIL S0014 (biodegradable); and OK COMPOST INDUSTRIAL S0014 (okay for industrial composting systems).