Compostable bags vs degradable bags: what's the difference?

Plastics bags and our use of them has been under the spotlight recently and there's a growing awareness around their environmental impact. This is leading many consumers to adjust their perspective on the humble plastic bag.

The negative impact plastic bags have has been well documented. This has led major retailers in New Zealand to change their policies on plastic bags with some charging for their use and others looking to ban them altogether.

But if you're not a multi-million dollar retailer how can you offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to plastic?

The answer may lie in compostable bags.

What is a compostable bag?

When a bag is compostable that means the bag is designed to biodegrade, and then some. The main difference between compostable and other biodegradable and degradable bags is that most degradable bags will break down over a long period of time, or 'eventually'. Given the right conditions this could be thousands of years!

Compostable bags are different in that they will degrade in a certain amount of time. The amount of time the bag degrades isn't fixed but in order to be classed as compostable it must be faster than biodegradable or degradable in certain types of environments.

What can you do?

Supermarkets are already encouraging shoppers to choose alternative bagging solutions for their shopping needs but there are circumstances where you need a plastic-style bag for liquid or degrading items where you want to prevent leaks.

That's where compostable bags become incredibly useful.

Let's say you need bags in the kitchen for cooking waste. With Primepac's new range of compostable bags you can store biological waste, such as fruit and vegetables, in the bags then drop them in the compost bin knowing the bag will degrade away.

Primepac supplies the Ecopack range of 100% Compostable, plastic free and biodegradable bags. They are an eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastic bags. They are a more sustainable packaging choice and are specifically designed to be sustainable from start to finish.

The compostable bags are made from a natural starch corn starch and the printing is done with water based eco-friendly inks—a true alternative to the traditional oil-based plastics that can take up to 1000 years to break down, if at all.

The Ecopack Compostable Bags begin to decompose in a compost pile taking approximately 90 days to break down (depending on compost conditions such as temperature) leaving no harmful residues in the process. This eliminates the impact of many tons of plastic bags sitting in our landfills for thousands of years or ending up in our oceans negatively impacting our marine life.

Show your business cares and choose compostable bags!