On 25 May the BBC programme Rip Off Britain highlighted the UCL report on home compostable plastics in which UCL stated the materials ‘largely do not home compost’. The programme, which we thought was fair, also stated our point of view that home composting is a highly variable hobby activity from which conclusions are difficult to reach.
We still maintain that many materials found not to biodegrade in home composting and shown on the programme, had either not been composted for long enough (it can take two years) or should not have been in the compost heap in the first place. This is a labelling issue we are working on resolving quickly but also because the Government allows the use of the marketing term ‘biodegradable’, many consumers are misled into thinking those plastics (usually oxodegradables) will compost, when we all know they do not.