EconoGreen Oxo-Degradable Plastic Bags
Jig-A-Loo recently announced their new line of oxo-degradable plastic bags in coordination with Home Depot called EconoGreen. After being contacted by a representative from EconoGreen, I was really interested to find out more about their products.
This new line of offers a great combination for environmentally friendly and budget conscious consumers. These bags are high quality, tough bags that are able to degrade when exposed to oxygen. On top of that, their bags are made from 100% recyclable plastic. Here is a great introduction to this new line of products:
What is Oxo-Degradable?
I kept hearing oxo-degradable, but wanted to do a little more research on what it was and whether it is really as environmentally as they say. In order to make a plastic oxo-degradable, a small amount of a metal salts are added. By adding this catalyst, the plastic is then able to degrade when introduced to normal environmental conditions. So this means that this type of plastic will only degrade in if exposed to oxygen. If the conditions are right, this plastic can break down into carbon dioxide and biomass within two years. EnviroGreen provides a great video on this exact process.
There is a small debate with this new type of plastic. Though it is biodegradable and even recyclable, it is not considered compostable. This is due to the fact that it can not break down fast enough to be useful in industrial compost facilities. That means that if a oxodegradable bag were to be sent to a compost facility, it would remain in it’s original form and make a less desirable product. It seems that as long as consumers are aware of this fact, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Some are also concern that these bags may not break down as fast as advertised if not exposed to the proper conditions. Even if the bags take slightly longer than advertised, it should still break down much faster than any traditional bag does.
My Review
The folks at EconoGreen were nice enough to send me a sample of their bags. I am not able to attest to their ability to break down within two years within a short time, I was able to test their quality.
I received a set of their bags including their large trash bag and a larger bag which I think is the contractor bag. The trash bag stood up really well, especially for something that is made from recyclable plastics and eventually degrades. There were no tears and absolutely no leakage. I have no usage for the larger bag yet, but I can imagine it being great for those extra leafs that I cannot fit in my compost bin and are taken by the county. For a bag that only costs the same as bags made from non-recycled plastics and do no degrade, this bags seems to fit the bill.
As I have said in the past, these types of bags serve their purpose, but should not be used more just because they are more environmentally friendly. If you are regularly composting, your trash should reduce therefore you should need far less garbage bags.
Where to Buy?
As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, these bags are carried in Home Depot stores throughout America. If you cannot find them locally, they are available online at their own EconoGreen website. They are priced reasonably at around $5 for most of their regular bags. Besides just the bags I mentioned, EconoGreen carries a full line of bags for almost any purpose for your home or garden:
- Large Trash Bags
- Tall Kitchen Bags
- Lawn and Leaf
- Contractor Bags
- Garage and Automotive
- Wet/Dry Vac Liner Bags
- Drop Cloths
EconoGreen oxo-degradable bags are an affordable environmentally friendly option to traditional plastic bags. For being a bag that degrades with an reasonable time, these bags are really tough. Give them a try and you won’t be disappointed.
Comments
Interesting Patrick. I hadn’t heard of these yet. What is the component that makes it biodegrade over time? I know most compostable trash bags have corn resin, and all compostable products require oxygen for their breakdown. In Minnesota, a law was just passed banning non-compostable bags for yard waste. Other States may follow suit over the next year.
Good point that they are better than a normal plastic trash bag, but not as eco-friendly as a compostable in 3-5 days eco-bag. Great to know that more options are available out there.
These bags need the same exposure to air and/or water that a compost requires to break down. This can be difficult in some landfills in which much of the items are not exposed to water because of how tightly packed they are. Even organic materials such as foods that would normally break down in composts, have difficult breaking down in some landfills.
Agreed. Too many products pretend to be biodegradable when they actually aren’t, which can actually harm the environment. The Biodegradable Products Institute is the place to check that out.
One of our local grocery stores recently started using biodegradable plastic bags. It would be nice to see more other stores following suit and offering the same kind of bags. Considering how many bags end up in landfills, it would be good if most of them broke down over time.
Use of plastic bags here in my local area has been banned and rather use of cloth bags is encouraged.
This should be implemented in areas where the level of pollution is high.
It makes a lot of difference at last.And ultimately we’ll have a greener earth.
Biodegradable plastic and packaging is a modern necessity for our ever-endangered environment.
Now PLA has been used to line the indoors of Paper Cups in place of the oil based lining additional usually used, create Plastic Cups, Plates, Carrier Bags, Food Packaging and even Nappies.
Eco Pure is our proprietary blend of organic materials that does not modify the base resin to which it is added.
Thanks a lot for your information