Is Compostable Cutlery Really Breaking Down?

There&#;s a growing market for disposable eating utensils. They have names like taterware or spudware -- forks and knives can be made out of potato starch instead of plastic. You might buy the tableware believing its better for the environment. But, that depends on where you toss it out.

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Judy Adams is shopping for cutlery at Whole Foods in Sacramento. She compares two packets of disposable forks. One is made out of recycled plastic. The other is made out of corn starch.

&#;Compostable versus recyclable? What does that mean? Where does it say?,&#; asks Adams.

 She reads the label on the back of the compostable forks.

&#;Our cutlery converts to soil, so you can put it into a composting pile. In a commercial composting system,&#; Adams reads. &#; Oh! What does that mean? You have to have a commercial composting system? Oops.&#;

Adams is confused. She says she will likely toss the forks in the trash because she assumes they will break down in a landfill. But, that may not be the case. 

The product is made by Worldcentric, which is headquartered in Petaluma, CA.

Marketing Director Annie Davis points out products in the company&#;s showroom like their new compostable Asian soup spoon.  The company manufactures everything from compostable ice cream cups to straws at production facilities in Asia.

It&#;s a big business &#; worth about $30 million annually.

Davis stresses that all Worldcentric products are certified by the Biodegradable Product Institute (BPI).

She reads the BPI disclaimer on the back of the Worldcentric catalog: &#;Compostable in industrial facilities.&#;

&#;And then there is small language -- check locally as these do not exist in many communities," says Davis. "Not suitable for backyard composting.&#;

As Davis says, industrial facilities might not exist nearby.

The nearest facility that does accept bio-plastics is an hour away in Vacaville, CA.

There is a composting facility just down the road in Novato, Redwood Landfill and Recycling Center, but it only accept yardwaste, food scraps and paper products.

Alisha McCutheon runs the composting facility. She says a lot of her customers don&#;t know Redwood can&#;t accept bio-plastics. So, they&#;re in the mix. 

&#;Thin things like bio-bags break down pretty readily," says McCutheon. &#;Things like spudware, potato cutlery, forks and knives make out of cornstarch -- they almost don&#;t break down at all.&#;

McCutheon points to a large pile of debris. It&#;s the leftovers -- even a nerf football -- that didn&#;t break down after five months of composting.

She picks up a compostable spoon and dusts it off. She says all the leftovers &#; including the spoon -- are now on the way to the trash.  

And, that&#;s not good news for the environment.

Joe Greene, a mechanical engineering professor at Chico State University and an expert on bio-plastics says, &#;The problem is that these actually can harm the environment more than regular petroleum based plastics if you throw them in the landfill because they generate methane gas."

Methane is a toxic greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

Greene says it&#;s important that certified compostable food service items end up at facilities with the proper capacity to break them down.

&#;They will bio-degrade in a hot industrial compost," says Greene. &#;They won&#;t bio-degrade in your backyard necessarily.&#;

Greene tried tossing some compostable spoons into his backyard compost bin. But, he says the products only broke down about 30 percent after two years.

He says the spoons will eventually biodegrade, but that could take a very long time.

He gives the example of a bio-plastic bag he picked up in . The product said &#;biodegradable&#; on it, but he watched it for the last decade -- it&#;s still intact.

In other words, both compostable goods and composting facilities vary widely.

So, before you buy eco-friendlier plastic, Greene suggests you research the product, and determine where you&#;ll throw it away.

For more biodegradable cutlery wholesaleinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

Resources: Research compostable food service items. Find a composting facility near you. 

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To make it easy for you to learn about us and our products, we have collected the most common questions below. Please CONTACT US if anything remains unanswered! 

Q: Can your wood cutlery be washed and reused?

A: Our wood cutlery is meant to be disposable and recommended for single use only.

Q: What means compostable?

A: Compostable means that a product can break down into natural materials like carbon dioxide, water, and biomass in about 90 days.

Q: Is disposable wood cutlery compostable?

Yes. Wood Cutlery can be composted in a home or backyard compost as well as in a commercial composting facility. 

Q: Is compostable better than biodegradable?

A: Although compostable and biodegradable are often used interchangeably, they do not mean the same thing. Biodegradable means that a product can break down into natural materials in the environment without causing harm. The time frame can be months to years. Compostable, on the other hand, means that a product can break down into natural materials in about 90 days.

Q: Is compostable plastic cutlery (PLA's etc) really compostable? 

A: There are many different compostable plastics on the market and the answer would be different for each one. The short answer is: what looks like plastic is treated like plastic. Compostable plastics only compost in commercial facilities. Unfortunately, many commercial composters tend to sort out every item that looks like plastic. That means if it looks like plastic, the cutlery will end up in the landfill where it can take hundreds of years to degrade.

Q: Is compostable plastic a better choice than plastic?

A: When confronted with an environmental crisis, there is always a steep learning curve before we get a grip of the problem. Although a step in the right direction, "compostable plastics" do not actually compost in a natural setting. Because they look like plastic they sometimes end up in the recycling bin and recyclers have to sort them out. Because of the same assumption, composters sort them out as well. So, no matter where they get discarded in most cases they will end up in the landfill where they might take the same amount of time to degrade like plastic. If they are still a better option than plastic is up to the consumer, but they are clearly not a truly sustainable alternative to single use plastic.

Q: How long does it take for wood cutlery/plastic cutlery/compostable plastic cutlery to degrade in a landfill?

A: Currently, there is no study that confirms an exact timeframe for wood cutlery to degrade in a landfill. Since landfills are designed for waste to degrade much slower than in a natural setting, it will take longer though, that in your backyard compost!

As a natural product our birch cutlery can be compared to food waste. Food waste is estimated to decompose within 6-24 months in a landfill.

Plastic might take anywhere from 10-100 years in a landfill. So called "compostable plastics" do not easily degrade in a natural setting and it is safe to assume the time for them to degrade in a landfill is closer to that of plastic, than that of wood cutlery.

Q: Why is wood cutlery more sustainable than compostable plastic cutlery?

A: To truely answer this we need to look at a variety of aspects. From the raw materials used over the manufacturing process to what happens after they are discarded. Please read our blog post on How Sustainable Are Plastic Cutlery Alternatives?

Q: Does using wood cutlery harm tree populations?

A: It is a common misunderstanding that wood products harm tree populations. Wood is one of the most sustainable materials that can be used. It absorbs CO2 while it is growing and creates habitats for wildlife. It is important though to only use raw materials from responsibly managed forests like Foodstiks does.

Q: How much wood is needed to make the cutlery?

A: The manufacturing process for our wood cutlery is very efficient. One tree the size of a pole can produce up to 20,000 pieces of cutlery.

The company is the world’s best compostable spoon china supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.