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HOW biodegradable is your teabag? Are plastics labelled as biodegradable really what they claim to be? You can have a go at answering these questions and more by conducting your own home composting experiment.
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If you live in the UK, you can submit your findings via the citizen science project and contribute directly to waste innovation research. Start by choosing some items labelled as biodegradable or compostable. You might find inspiration from the project鈥檚 ongoing , which encourage volunteers to test out the supposedly environmentally friendly teabags that are now on offer from various brands.
Before putting your items into your composter, pop them in a plastic net bag, along with a plastic bottle cap labelled with a permanent marker 鈥� this will help identify your experiment later.
If you are an experienced composter, just carry on as you normally would. If you are new to the activity, there is to help get you started. The process, which usually lasts weeks or months, harnesses animals and microorganisms to break down organic matter, allowing recycling of the many nutrients found within.
Once you are ready to use your compost, you can take a photo and it to the Big Compost Experiment online, where you will also answer a few questions about the process you carried out. Your observations will help researchers, such as at University College London, to better understand how so-called biodegradable or compostable materials actually behave.
Observations submitted since the project launched in November 2019 indicate that many of these materials don鈥檛 break down as quickly during home composting as might be expected. 鈥淲e can see that there is a significant range of things that are not working or are not actually鈥� breaking down as the manufacturers would hope them to,鈥� said Purkiss, during a .
Results from volunteers have already shown that 66 per cent of biodegradable or compostable items placed in home composters were still intact, or had only partially degraded, by the time the compost was harvested.
Participants so far have used a wide range of composter types, plus different methods and time frames. 鈥淭his is all very personal,鈥� said Purkiss. The diversity is what makes the home composting environment so challenging to design materials for, she said.
Purkiss hopes that the findings from the project will increase understanding of composting鈥檚 environmental impact, and inform improvements to waste management in the UK. You can get involved by visiting .
What you need
Somewhere to compost e.g. a compost bin, trench or similar
A selection of compostable or biodegradable items
A net bag and clip
A plastic bottle cap and permanent marker pen
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