Frequently Asked Questions

• Degradable plastic bags also have environmental costs during their manufacture, and although they can break up (degrade) over a lengthy period they still leave toxic residues in soil and water. And conditions have to be right for a bag to degrade well; they usually photo-degrade so they need light, and so conditions are generally not ideal in bins, landfill sites, rivers or the sea. It can take years for bags to biodegrade in a landfill, and until they do biodegradable plastic bags remain unsightly and dangerous to wildlife

• Degradable plastic bags do not last very long and when they are disposed of can get mixed up with ordinary plastic bags and contaminate plastic that could have been recycled

• There are different kinds of degradable plastics, and “compostable plastic” (i e genuinely biodegradable, starch-based) bags, are better. They look like plastic, but break down into carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass, like other compostable materials, and leave no toxic residue. The resulting humus is a safe and healthy contribution to soil. However, you do have to remember to compost them, and should not get them mixed up with other plastic bags for recycling.

• Re-use is still better than recycling or composting.

• See also the WRAP fact sheet in our Useful Information section