How Long Do Biodegradable Bags Take To Decompose?

How long it takes for biodegradable bags to decompose depends on a range of factors. If they’re placed in a microbe-rich environment to help it break down, biodegradable plastic bags can take anywhere from only a few months to a few years to fully break down. To compare, traditional plastic bags, on the other hand, take hundreds of years to fully decompose.

The issue is where biodegradable bags end up. Properly disposing of biodegradable plastic bags and ensuring they end up in the right environment for decomposing is the only way to ensure they’re able to break down fully.

Do Biodegradable Plastics Break Down in Water?

Biodegradable materials are designed to be broken down by natural organisms like fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms. Some places biodegradable plastics can’t break down include the marine environment like the ocean. That’s why you might find biodegradable-labeled bags floating around still intact.

Biogone provides a more sustainable solution to the traditional, single-use plastic bag. Our Biogone plastic products have a proprietary additive that allows it to decompose in a landfill over a few years – not hundreds.

Do Biodegradable Plastics Break Down in Landfills?

Not all biodegradable plastics decompose in landfills. When you’re making your purchasing decisions for biodegradable products, look for biodegradable plastics that have specific labels stating that they’re ‘landfill-biodegradable’. Since the majority of the plastics we throw away end up in landfills, the smartest decision to reduce your ecological footprint is to use landfill-biodegradable bags.

Biogone’s range of landfill-biodegradable products offers the convenience of using single-use plastics while leaving less harm on the environment as it only takes a few years rather than hundreds for biodegradable bags to decompose. 

Choose from our wide selection of landfill-biodegradable plastic products including disposable gloves, dog bags, garbage bags & bin liners, packaging stickers, and more.

Do Compostable Bags Break Down in Landfills?

There is a lot of confusion between the differences between biodegradable and compostable plastics, so you may also be wondering, ‘do compostable bags break down in landfills as well?’

Even though there are some similarities between biodegradable and compostable products (in that they’re both made to break down and return to the natural environment), there are key differences that set them apart. You can read more about the differences between biodegradable and compostable materials in one of our previous blog posts.

Essentially, many of the compostable bags we find today are designed to decompose in a commercial composting facility – not landfills. In composting facilities, there are specific settings of temperature, moisture, heat, air, and other environmental factors to ensure these compostable bags break down.

If you put compostable bags in any other environment outside of a composting facility, they simply won’t decompose. This includes landfills – where most plastics end up.

That’s why landfill-biodegradable plastics are a much better choice when it comes to reducing your ecological footprint.

Looking for more environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional, single use plastic bags? Biogone supplies a range of landfill-biodegradable plastics including bin liners, packaging, gloves, and more. Shop online today or get in touch for more information about our products.