Most home compostable plastics don't break down, study finds

Researchers found that home compostable plastics ends up settling on our soil, Mustafa Qadri writes

Plastic consumption has increased worldwide by over four folds in the past 30 years (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The majority of plastics marketed as “home compostable” do not fully disintegrate and end up settling in soil, new research has found.

The UK-based study, called The Big Compost Experiment, found that 60 per cent of home compostable plastics - used for items such as food packaging, bags and cutlery - do not break up within six months.

An author the study, Danielle Purkiss, said: “Compostable packaging does not break down effectively in the range of UK home composting conditions, creating plastic pollution.”