BREAKING DOWN
BREAKING DOWN
How Bonnie Bio’s 100% certified home compostable products break down in the correct composting environment
How Bonnie Bio’s 100% certified home compostable products break down
UNDERSTANDING ‘HOME COMPOSTABLE’
The term compostable is used to describe a product that can break down or disintegrate into natural elements whilst leaching no toxins into the environment. This rate of disintegration is also consistent with similar organic materials, meaning that, unlike traditional plastic, Bonnie Bio certified home compostable plastic-alternative products won’t linger in landfills for hundreds of years. In order to decompose, compostable products do require some help from nature to return to it. Microbial activity and heat from the sun help to turn a once-loved and used Bonnie Bio product into water and biomass.
Experts recommend that almost all compostable plastic-alternative products are decomposed within an industrial composting facility and very few products carry the COPCO Home Compostable certification that you’ll find on Bonnie Bio’s refuse range. In the instance of industrial compostable products, the life cycle looks like this:
It isn’t always easy to know where or how to find an Industrial Composting Facility, especially in South Africa, so we’ve formulated Bonnie Bio’s refuse bags so that they are able to carry the internationally recognised COPCO Home Compostability certification. This means that they’ll break down in your home compost heap too. Simply collect your food scraps and vegetable peelings in your Bonnie Bio bag and then bury it in your garden to complete the cycle of a plant-based plastic product back to nutrient-rich soil to finally, fruits, veggies, and herbs to feed your family.
ABOUT THE COMPOSTABLE PLASTICS COUNCIL
COPCO is the official body to certify products verified as compostable by the CSIR laboratory. Through independent Integrated ISO Management COPCO verifies that products have national or international certification for compostability.
The verification system is linked to the COPCO logo which is used to identify endorsed either home and industrially compostable packaging. Together with its associates, COPCO strives to ensure the recognition of the environmental benefits of compostable plastics and packaging. They work on educating consumers, retailers, and brand owners on a circular economy and avoiding greenwashing.
DECOMPOSING IN PICTURES
Imagine if all single-use plastic products naturally transformed back to a renewable material like Bonnie Bio’s home compostable bags?
Our coastlines and countryside vistas would remain pristine, our wildlife wouldn’t be ingesting litter and microplastics wouldn’t be found at the top of the Himalayan Mountains.
To prove how effectively Bonnie Bio compostable bags break down, we took an 85l refuse bag and a 3-5l pedal bin bag to Reliance Compost in Paarl. The transformation in this natural environment from a usable bag to nothing took a little over 15 days and is staggering to behold.
Day one – 15 February 2024, we placed a Bonnie Bio 3-5L pedal bin bag & an 85L refuse bag on the compost heap.
Day four – 19 February 2024, the bags were already starting to decompose, looking run down and no longer shiny.
Day 15 – 1 March 2024, both bags were almost completely transformed!
In a few more days, you’d never even know that these bags were even here. Transformed back to biomass and ready to become another home compostable bag one day.
The brilliance of home compostable bags, disintegrates back into compost, leaches no toxins in the process and creates no microplastics. Every home compostable refuse bag used is one less black plastic refuse bag out there. Do we need to use traditional black plastic refuse bags that will last anywhere from 5 years, 10 years, 50 years, 100 years, then become microplastics to do a job for a few days?
Switch to using home compostable refuse bags today – available at your local Checkers, PNP, Spar or online right here.
WHAT ARE BIODEGRADABLE / COMPOSTABLE PLASTICS?
Biodegradable / compostable plastics are those which decompose in natural environments leaving behind biomass & water while leaching no toxins into the environment. PLA plastic alternatives meet the widely recognised European compostability standard EN13432.
WHAT ARE BIODEGRADABLE / COMPOSTABLE PLASTICS?
Biodegradable / compostable plastics are those which decompose in natural environments leaving behind biomass & water while leaching no toxins into the environment. PLA plastic alternatives meet the widely recognised European compostability standard EN13432.
HOME COMPOSTABLE EXPLAINED
Our products can be thrown in your home compost bin along with your kitchen and garden waste. It takes between 40 – 90 days for our corn starch packaging to decompose in the right conditions. Home composting, if done properly, can have benefits compared to landfilling and incineration of organic waste: due to lower volumes of waste collected from households it may lead to reduced waste management fees, and it produces compost for private gardening use.
HOW TO DISPOSE OF OUR PRODUCTS
Whilst our corn starch material will decompose in an open or turned landfill, or within your home composting bin, please be mindful of what you place inside our bags as this may not be biodegradable.
All of our exterior packaging (the box our products come in) have been printed using eco-solve ink. Please recycle where possible or dispose of in the correct recycling bin.
HOME COMPOSTABLE EXPLAINED
Our products can be thrown in your home compost bin along with your kitchen and garden waste. It takes between 40 – 90 days for our corn starch packaging to decompose in the right conditions. Home composting, if done properly, can have benefits compared to landfilling and incineration of organic waste: due to lower volumes of waste collected from households it may lead to reduced waste management fees, and it produces compost for private gardening use.
Please do be mindful that whilst our Multipurpose Bags are compostable, what you put in them may not be.
HOW TO DISPOSE OF OUR PRODUCTS
Whilst our corn starch material will decompose in an open or turned landfill, or within your home composting bin, please be mindful of what you place inside our bags as this may not be biodegradable. All of our exterior packaging (the box our products come in) have been printed using eco-solve ink. Please recycle where possible or dispose of in the correct recycling bin.
HOW OUR PRODUCTS WORK
Our products break down to water and biomass when disposed of correctly, meaning that by using Bonnie Bio, you’re helping to reduce the amount of plastic entering the environment. All of our products are as durable as traditional petroleum-based plastic, but without the long-term build up in waterways, the ocean or surrounds.
WHY SWITCH TO BONNIE BIO
Every tiny action can have an enormous impact on the future of our planet. By switching to Bonnie Bio, you’re doing your part to help keep our oceans, landfills, waterways and surrounding landscapes free from plastic, and in turn, protecting the animals who may consume it. You’re helping to leave the world a better place for our children.
HOW OUR PRODUCTS WORK
Our products break down to water and biomass when disposed of correctly, meaning that by using Bonnie Bio, you’re helping to reduce the amount of plastic entering the environment. All of our products are as durable as traditional petroleum-based plastic, but without the long-term build up in waterways, the ocean or surrounds.
WHY SWITCH TO BONNIE BIO
Every tiny action can have an enormous impact on the future of our planet. By switching to Bonnie Bio, you’re doing your part to help keep our oceans, landfills, waterways and surrounding landscapes free from plastic, and in turn, protecting the animals who may consume it. You’re helping to leave the world a better place for our children and grandchildren.