Biodegradable Plastic Bag

Technically, all plastics are biodegradable, given enough time. However, it can take many decades for a standard polythene or polyethylene film to do so, and in the meantime, it can cause environmental problems. The structure of this powdery, translucent, white corn starch-based plastic is such that microbes are able to act on it to break it down in a much shorter period of time. 

This bag is envisaged by its producers as the solution to the very dispersed and visible problem of plastic waste in the sea and littered across the landscape. It is used as a container for organic food waste, so that the whole thing can be composted en masse. However, these sorts of technologies are not effective if these biodegradable materials end up in landfill, as biodegradation there is largely anaerobic, and plastics that do break down in these conditions form methane gas. Ideally, these plastics should be fished out of the waste stream and composted industrially or at home.