.jpg)
What is Composting?
Composting is simple. It’s a circular economy solution
that’s completely natural. Think of it as nature’s way of recycling.
In Australia, we send seven million tonnes of organic waste
to landfill each year – including food scraps, garden material and compostable
packaging. Once in landfill, organic waste begins to break down creating
methane – a greenhouse gas eight time more potent than CO2.
This is not sustainable and industrial composting
infrastructure plays a significant role in diverting this waste from landfill,
so it can be repurposed instead.
By choosing to compost, you eliminate the creation of
methane, the harmful greenhouse gas produced when organic material is dumped
into landfill.
Is Compostable
Packaging Actually Getting Composted?
The short answer is, it depends on your location and where
you choose to spend your money.
Across Australia, New Zealand and around the world,
industrial composting facilities are processing certified compostable packaging
and turning it into soil.
The BioPak compost service is helping businesses in over
2,800 post codes across Australia and New Zealand divert food scraps, organics
and compostable packaging from landfill to create rich soil instead.
Helping to reduce landfill waste is easier than you think as
the demand is driven by the consumer. Australian’s are really concerned about
waste and by talking to your local cafés, restaurants and supermarkets, you can
make a significant change by creating the demand for this vital service.
Is Composting Better
Than Recycling?
Contamination caused by food residue makes recycling
impractical in the food service industry, but food residue is not a problem
when it comes to composting. In fact, leftovers and food scraps improve the
quality of the compost. Composting is
nature’s way of recycling organic material. Food and beverage residue makes
conventional recycling prohibitive, if not impossible, which is why composting
is the only real solution to recycling food service packaging.
There are many materials that are recyclable but aren’t
recycled because the commercial incentives aren’t viable. It can be cheaper to
dump in landfill rather than recycle. Compost is in demand and considered a
valuable resource, so it makes both environmental and economic sense to
advocate for industrial composting as the ultimate end solution for single-use
food packaging. Switching to composting saves you money as organics collection
is more affordable than the landfill levy.
Compostable packaging is designed for a circular economy
where there is no waste. Packaging designed for a circular economy is made from
rapidly renewable, responsibly-sourced, plant-based materials instead of fossil
fuel-based materials (like conventional plastic). This means the environmental
footprint of the product is already significantly reduced even if the product
isn’t composted.
Another added benefit of composting is that all organic
waste and compostable packaging can be put into the one bin with no need for
segregation as required with recycling.
What’s the Difference
Between Biodegradable and Compostable?
The word biodegradable is overused and promoted to make
consumers believe a product is environmentally friendly when in fact,
everything is biodegradable given sufficient time. In Australia and New Zealand
there is no industry standard required to label a product as biodegradable. Consumers should be wary of any manufacturer
that states their product will biodegrade in landfill.
A compostable product will completely biodegrade under in
the right composting conditions, without leaving behind micro-fragments or
creating any toxic residue.
What are Councils and
Government Doing about Composting Infrastructure
Hobart was the first capital city in Australia to ban
single-use packaging with South Australia and the ACT set to follow suit.
We are in touch with local Perth councils and the West
Australian Government and calling for a complete ban of all single-use plastics
by 2022 and we need your help.
Consumers and business owners drive the demand for
compostable products and by contacting your local cafes, restaurants and
councils, you can help create demand for this change by requesting they switch
to compostable packaging.
Around Australia and the rest of the world, companies of all
sizes are listening to requests from their customers and taking steps towards a
cleaner world with plastic-free oceans.
Be the change. #whynotnow2022