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  Experiment in composting plastics

  Last summer my wife and I has a series of garden parties/potlucks.  While we encouraged folks to bring their own reusable tableware, for the slackers we bought some unbleached fiber plates and compostable, I think corn, plastic utensils and cups (sorry, I don't remember the brand).  These materials were added to the compost and subsequently covered as the pile built up.  We also added some plastic containers for dates, strawberries, etc. that were labeled as compostable.  The compost was not turned, just built up in layers in a one square yard footprint slatted plastic compost bin.  I turned the compost in the first part of June and sifted finished compost.  All the plates and most of the cups and containers were gone, but the utensils were still there and looked basically pristine.  I'm not sure how many years it will take for them to break down.  It seams like a commercial or community-sponsored composting program where all the material is chipped up would be a better disposal option for this type of plastic.  On Umbra on biodegradable products posted 2 years, 4 months ago 5 Responses