Tiny Trash Can biodegradable bags

“Biodegradable” bags

Think your “biodegradable” bag is biodegradable? Think again.

If you’re like me, you bought biodegradable bags because you thought you were helping the environment. You probably imagined that plastic bag magically disappearing in the landfill unlike those other plastic bags, right? But biodegradable does not mean compostable (in fact, there’s no regulation around what “biodegradable” even means). And so-called biodegradable bags are no better than regular plastic bags—in fact, they’re worse.

The bag pictured above is my last bag from a roll of NaturSac bags I purchased long before going zero waste. I’d used this bag repeatedly as a liner in my kitchen compost bin, but it was starting to leak. I wasn’t sure how to best dispose of it since I no longer had the packaging. The bag itself says it’s biodegradable, non-polluting and recyclable, and I was hopeful I’d be able to compost it. An article in the Globe and Mail touted NaturSac bags as “A compostable garbage bag for the eco-minded grocer.” I decided to call NaturSac to find out the best way to dispose of the bag. What I discovered will make your blood boil (or at least it did mine)!

First off, the NaturSac representative told me the bags are NOT recyclable despite saying so on the bag. They said Recyc-Québec won’t accept the bags so they’ve removed that labeling on newer bags. (Most biodegradable bags aren’t recyclable since they contaminate the plastic recycling). So then I asked if there were any collection sites where I can drop off NaturSac bags for recycling. Nope. She said if I want to dispose of the bag, I can either throw it in my trash can or leave it on my lawn for a year under a rock so it won’t blow away while it degrades. What?!

It’s upsetting that a Quebec company would say their bags are recyclable when they’re not accepted by Quebec recycling programs. After our conversation, I decided to head to the grocery store to see if NaturSac actually did remove the “recyclable” label from their bags.

While they had removed the word “recyclable,” they had also added plenty of new greenwashing terms to replace it. And they still kept the recycling symbol on the bag. 😖

“BIOdegradable”

Despite putting “BIO” in all capital letters (“bio” is short for “biologique” in French, which means organic), there’s nothing organic about these bags. Even if you don’t have NaturSac bags where you live, you probably have something similar—plastic bags that are labeled as “biodegradable.”

These bags are made of polyethylene (i.e. plastic). When you read the fine print, you learn that these bags will degrade only if they’re exposed to oxygen, humidity, heat and UV (i.e. sunshine)—and they literally won’t be seeing the light of day in a landfill (nor getting any fresh air). So these bags are designed to transport garbage to the landfill, yet they won’t breakdown under normal landfill conditions.

In order to make bags “oxo-biodegradable” like this one, additives are used (often made with heavy metals like iron, cobalt and nickel) to make them breakdown faster in UV light. Presumably, this is helpful if the bag is pinned under a rock in your backyard, blowing around in the environment or floating in a body of water. The assumption is that microorganisms will eventually consume the plastic fragments. According to this industry-friendly definition of biodegradable, I guess all the plastic in the ocean is “biodegrading,” too, as zooplankton and other sea life ingest microplastics? 😢

“Non-polluting”

According to NaturSac’s website, their bags are non-polluting because “The Natursac bag is simply bio assimilated by nature … If the bag is hanging on a tree or floating on the ocean, it will disappear in a few months.” Ummm, just because you can’t see the pollution doesn’t mean it’s no longer there. Plastic can take as long as 2,000 years to breakdown. In the meantime, microplastics and nanoplastics, far too small to see with the naked eye, are poisoning our water, food, air and bodies. As much as you might wish it, plastics don’t just “disappear.”

NaturSac also claims their bags are “non-polluting” because the green-colored ink they use to print all these false claims is water-based. This completely ignores the fact that the entire bag is plastic! You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

More green washing

Beyond calling their company NaturSac, they also found ways to include the word “natural” wherever possible to give the impression that these bags are somehow good for the planet. They describe their plastic bags as “natural” because plastic is naturally transparent and they don’t add dyes to it. I’m sorry, but see-through plastic isn’t natural. Nice try.

They also managed to invent a phony symbol called “The environment reflex,” to suggest that this bag somehow meets some sort of environmental criteria. Nope.

And to give you the impression that you’re reusing something, NaturSac happily implies you’re giving your plastic bag a second life by using a pet waste bag as a pet waste bag. Huh? What was its first life exactly?

And for the finale, they printed “pour l’avenir de nos enfants / for our children’s future” on a plastic bag full of lies. Honestly, the whole bag makes me want to vomit.

This company employs every trick in the book, making misleading and false environmental claims, adding meaningless “green” symbols then guilting you into paying a higher price “for our children’s future.”

Biodegradable bags are a sham. They are no better than other plastic bags, except in profitability for the companies selling them. Don’t fall for it. If you have to use a trash bag, reuse a bag you couldn’t avoid acquiring (bread bag, frozen veggie bag, etc.). Or better yet, go bagless! 🙂

14 thoughts on ““Biodegradable” bags”

  1. What about other brands of biodegradable compostsble bags? These are the soft green material that breaks easily when wet. They are being used at our California Trader Joe’s for produce bags and also are available to buy as garbage bags in several sizes. They feel like s non plastic material. Did you research those?

    1. Hi, Leah! I haven’t researched those yet. Can you send me the link? It would be a matter of determining what the bags are made of and where they can be composted (industrial vs home compost).

  2. One of our supermarkets (in Australia) tried to pull that one too. Mum tested one by hanging it from the clothes line for about a month. It broke down…into lots of small pieces of plastic! They eventually got the message and stopped using them, and thanks to continued pressure no longer use disposable plastic bags at the checkout at all (though they still have a long way to go)

    1. Your Mum sounds awesome! Yes, many companies claim their products are “biodegradable” because they break down into smaller pieces (ughh), and well-intentioned consumers fall for it. Bravo to the customers for putting pressure on the supermarket!

    1. Hi, Karl! I haven’t tried them. While the bags are technically compostable, they’re only compostable in industrial facilities—not in backyard composting bins. Since I don’t have access to industrial composting facilities, these bags aren’t compostable for me. Unfortunately, compostable bags are only compostable in municipalities that have large-scale composting set up—and even then you’d have to check to make sure they accept this type of compostable bag. It’s sort of like how all plastics are technically recyclable, but if your town doesn’t collect it, it’s not really recyclable for you.

      Given these difficulties, I prefer to go bagless 🙂 It saves all the energy that goes into making and transporting the bags, and it saves money, too! 😀

    2. I see these bags now say they’re certified “OK Compost” for backyard compost bins. However, what would be the use case for these bags? If they’re trash bags, they’re headed for the landfill where they won’t decompose properly. In order for these bags to be compostable, they’d have to be headed for a compost heap. Rather than be marketed as “trash bags,” they should be labeled “compost bags.” But I worry manufacturing trash bags that are compostable contributes to the misconception that landfills are giant compost piles …

  3. AMS Compostable bags are OK Home Compost. I am a environmental engineer and it does work on my home compost garden. I’ve pictures if you want.

  4. Well done! We really need to let people know that plastic is harmful to our environment. At the end of the day, no matter what the material, it is still not healthy and we should be raising more awareness for this issue & use Biodegradable Products. Biodegradable & compostable bags are those bags which decompose in soil in a specific time & they are not harmful to our environment. This is one of the best alternative to plastic bags.

  5. Thank you for posting this.

    Does anyone know anything about the Unni bags? I bought some and after emailing them 3 times simply asking them if their bags break down faster in an open to the sun enclosed area or buried have yet to recieve any reply. Seems really sketchy to me. I bought mine to line a composting toilet bc I thought it would make the process less disgusting…. sooo very irritating…

    1. If you’re already composting, chances are everything in your trash can is dry (and likely just various forms of unrecyclable plastic). You can probably skip a trash bag completely and empty your trash directly into a curbside bin or dumpster. If you absolutely need a trash bag, I suggest using a bag you already have in your home that would end up in the trash (like bread bags, cereal bags, chip bags, etc.). Hope that helps!

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