Why ANSES advises against composting so-called "biodegradable" plastics

Yasmina Kattou, edited by Gauthier Delomez 06:21, November 29, 2022

Find a piece of plastic cup in your salad?

This is what may happen to you if you compost your plastic waste, even though it is said to be biodegradable, and you use the compost for your vegetable garden.

In addition to putting in vegetable peelings, some add plastic waste, including single-use plastic bags.

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However, the total degradation of such materials is not guaranteed in these composters, reveals a report from the National Food Safety Agency (Anses) published on Tuesday.

The use of composts can therefore present a risk for the environment as well as for the health of human beings.

Recycle in the yellow bin to avoid contamination

Current regulations on composting do not allow total degradation.

"According to current standards, compostable plastic materials degrade to more than 90% within a maximum period of six to 12 months, which means that there remains 10% which could not be degraded", explains Aurélie Mathieu, coordinator of the ANSES report, which explains that "these 10% can have effects on people's health".

The harmful effects of microplastics on health remain unknown.

As a precaution, it is not recommended to compost plastics, even biosourced, biodegradable and compostable ones.

"ANSES recommends putting these plastics in the yellow bin, which will then allow these used plastics to be processed in an industrial sector", adds Aurélie Mathieu.

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For the recycling of plastics, the National Agency recommends stricter criteria, such as the absence of endocrine disruptors or carcinogenic substances.

In France, more than one person in three recycles their waste in domestic or collective composters.