Compostable Plastic – PLA

PLA (polylactic acid)

PLA cannot be composted at home. There’s mixed advice on how households should dispose of PLA (polylactic acid) packaging. Currently, most councils in the UK don’t accept compostable packaging in food or garden waste collections, so some companies have recommended that you recycle PLA instead.

When WHICH? checked this advice out with Defra and  (Waste Resources & Action Programme), they strongly discouraged this, saying that PLA can contaminate plastic recycling.

So the only option left is to throw PLA in the bin which defeats the object of compostable packaging!

PLA was one of the most widely-used types of compostable packaging WHICH? came across, but until a proper method of disposal is in place, PLA appears to be no greener than normal plastic.

Watch this space for more information as we uncover it……….!

http://www.wrap.org.uk/
http://www.which.co.uk/