You must know that biodegradable/compostable mailing bags are all the rave. You might question whether compostable mailing bags are better than their non-biodegradable counterparts? Let’s delve deeper into the pros and cons of the two options.
Compostable Mailing Bags
Some mailer bags are designed to turn into compost within less than 90 days of their initial usage. They have many advantages, including that you don’t have to transport them to be composted. You can easily compost them at home. After composting, you can use the compost even as fertilizer because these mailing bags are usually made from ordinary plant starch.
It is also noteworthy that the mailing bags are non-toxic. You don’t have to worry about your health or the health of your loved ones when using this packaging. Relevant government agencies in the United Kingdom ensure manufacturers maintain the proper standards where time for decomposition is concerned.
The problem with these bags is that they are relatively thin and can get torn easily. The thinness of these bags is necessary to make the mailing bag easy to compost. The thinness also means that the bags are translucent, and they, therefore, don’t conceal their contents. Although the mailing bags are biodegradable, they are not the same as fully organic compost. If you put them together with other types of composting, it might render the compost unusable.
Composting these mailing bags requires you to have a composting heap, and many people in the United Kingdom don’t have composting heaps. Commercial composting places are also not readily available, so composting these bags is not always easy.
Biodegradable Plastic Mailer Bags
These bags are slightly different from compostable mailing bags, but their constitution is more or less the same. Biodegradable bags are made from corn and wheat starch, and they need certain conditions to decompose. For example, the temperature should be at least 50 degrees Celsius. The bags should also be exposed to UV light for decomposition to start.
Some of the advantages of these bags include the fact that they break down, unlike their petroleum counterpart. These bags are stronger than their compostable mailers. You can therefore use the bags several times without breaking them. Biodegradable bags are also thick, and consequently, they give you the privacy necessary for your goods.
Biodegradable mailer bags, while good, have their challenges, including the fact that they may contain microorganisms. These organisms can interact adversely with the goods you mail using the mailing bags. There is also the possibility that the bags may be toxic. Toxicity means that it can be harmful to your health or pets’ health.
Oceans and other water bodies are some of the places most affected by plastic pollution. These bags don’t help mitigate this problem. They need UV rays and relatively high temperatures to decompose, and neither of these conditions is available in the water bodies.
Methane is one of the greenhouse gasses. These bags produce it when they break down without oxygen in conditions found in a landfill.
In conclusion, biodegradable and compost bags are better than petroleum plastic bags because they break down. However, you need to understand their limits regarding what they can hold and the specific conditions under which they decompose.
