Biodegradeable Compost bags
 

I've never used these bags in my compost bins before because I didn't
really trust them to break down. However, on buying a new compost
caddy, I find there are some inside.

Have others here found that these bags degrade well (completely
disappear would be good), or do they persist in the outdoor compost bin
months hence, only to be picked out by hand while riddling the compost?
Other irritants of this kind are tea bags and the supposedly
degradeable jiffy-type fibre pots.

When I first moved here, the previous residents had obviously used
plastic sacks all over the garden to suppress weeds. The garden was
scattered with thousands of shreds of black plastic bag:~((. This is
precisely what I do not wish to find in my usually perfect compost.

So the question is: do they really break down, or don't they?
Thanks for your time.
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

Biodegradeable Compost bags
 

On 11/07/2014 16:05, Spider wrote:
I've never used these bags in my compost bins before because I didn't
really trust them to break down. However, on buying a new compost
caddy, I find there are some inside.

Have others here found that these bags degrade well (completely
disappear would be good), or do they persist in the outdoor compost bin
months hence, only to be picked out by hand while riddling the compost?
Other irritants of this kind are tea bags and the supposedly
degradeable jiffy-type fibre pots.

When I first moved here, the previous residents had obviously used
plastic sacks all over the garden to suppress weeds. The garden was
scattered with thousands of shreds of black plastic bag:~((. This is
precisely what I do not wish to find in my usually perfect compost.

So the question is: do they really break down, or don't they?
Thanks for your time.

Not 100% sure but I assume so. We've been using small pale green ones
in an internal compost caddy for quite a long time. Although they are
obviously quite visible when they first go in a new compost section, I
don't recall seeing any bits in the older heaps. So I think they do
disintegrate but I'm not sure as to exactly how long they take.

Re bags in the garden... How I wish our predecessor had used them.
There are two areas where he didn't want anything to grow. What was a
kids play area and a path through a little walk-through 'glade'. The
former area I turned into part of the vegetable garden; the latter I had
to attend to because it started sprouting masses of weeds.

In both cases, he had used sheets/rolls of roofing felt as the weed
membrane:((

By the time I was working on the areas, it had broken up into tiny
pieces - and when you picked one up it broke even further. A *lot* of
PITA work.

--
regards andy

Biodegradeable Compost bags
 

On 14/07/2014 12:32, News wrote:
On 11/07/2014 16:05, Spider wrote:
I've never used these bags in my compost bins before because I didn't
really trust them to break down. However, on buying a new compost
caddy, I find there are some inside.

Have others here found that these bags degrade well (completely
disappear would be good), or do they persist in the outdoor compost bin
months hence, only to be picked out by hand while riddling the compost?
Other irritants of this kind are tea bags and the supposedly
degradeable jiffy-type fibre pots.

When I first moved here, the previous residents had obviously used
plastic sacks all over the garden to suppress weeds. The garden was
scattered with thousands of shreds of black plastic bag:~((. This is
precisely what I do not wish to find in my usually perfect compost.

So the question is: do they really break down, or don't they?
Thanks for your time.

Not 100% sure but I assume so. We've been using small pale green ones
in an internal compost caddy for quite a long time. Although they are
obviously quite visible when they first go in a new compost section, I
don't recall seeing any bits in the older heaps. So I think they do
disintegrate but I'm not sure as to exactly how long they take.

Re bags in the garden... How I wish our predecessor had used them.
There are two areas where he didn't want anything to grow. What was a
kids play area and a path through a little walk-through 'glade'. The
former area I turned into part of the vegetable garden; the latter I had
to attend to because it started sprouting masses of weeds.

In both cases, he had used sheets/rolls of roofing felt as the weed
membrane:((

By the time I was working on the areas, it had broken up into tiny
pieces - and when you picked one up it broke even further. A *lot* of
PITA work.




Thanks very much for your reply, Andy. It definitely sounds hopeful, so
I will give them a go and, of course, report back .. though that could
be some months hence.

I can appreciate just how fiddly your roofing felt clear up was. I
wouldn't have thought that roofing felt was enviromentally friendly
soil-wise, but I suppose people use what they've got to hand. I have
used hessian-backed carpet, but never the polypropylene kind, let alone
anything bitumen-y. I have more respect for my worms.

Thanks again.
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

Biodegradeable Compost bags
 

In article ,
News wrote:
On 11/07/2014 16:05, Spider wrote:
I've never used these bags in my compost bins before because I didn't
really trust them to break down. However, on buying a new compost
caddy, I find there are some inside.

Have others here found that these bags degrade well (completely
disappear would be good), or do they persist in the outdoor compost bin
months hence, only to be picked out by hand while riddling the compost?
Other irritants of this kind are tea bags and the supposedly
degradeable jiffy-type fibre pots.

When I first moved here, the previous residents had obviously used
plastic sacks all over the garden to suppress weeds. The garden was
scattered with thousands of shreds of black plastic bag:~((. This is
precisely what I do not wish to find in my usually perfect compost.

So the question is: do they really break down, or don't they?
Thanks for your time.

Not 100% sure but I assume so. We've been using small pale green ones
in an internal compost caddy for quite a long time. Although they are
obviously quite visible when they first go in a new compost section, I
don't recall seeing any bits in the older heaps. So I think they do
disintegrate but I'm not sure as to exactly how long they take.

It depends critically on the material. Pure polythene breaks down
very rapidly in ultraviolet light, and as soon as it absorbs water
and bacteria get to work on it. Commercial sheet has a lot of
additions to discourage this, so there is a gradation from some
plastic bags designed to degrade to polytunnel sheet, which is
very durable.

PVC is almost invariably non-degradable.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Biodegradeable Compost bags
 

On 14/07/2014 13:54, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
News wrote:
On 11/07/2014 16:05, Spider wrote:
I've never used these bags in my compost bins before because I didn't
really trust them to break down. However, on buying a new compost
caddy, I find there are some inside.

Have others here found that these bags degrade well (completely
disappear would be good), or do they persist in the outdoor compost bin
months hence, only to be picked out by hand while riddling the compost?
Other irritants of this kind are tea bags and the supposedly
degradeable jiffy-type fibre pots.

When I first moved here, the previous residents had obviously used
plastic sacks all over the garden to suppress weeds. The garden was
scattered with thousands of shreds of black plastic bag:~((. This is
precisely what I do not wish to find in my usually perfect compost.

So the question is: do they really break down, or don't they?
Thanks for your time.

Not 100% sure but I assume so. We've been using small pale green ones
in an internal compost caddy for quite a long time. Although they are
obviously quite visible when they first go in a new compost section, I
don't recall seeing any bits in the older heaps. So I think they do
disintegrate but I'm not sure as to exactly how long they take.

It depends critically on the material. Pure polythene breaks down
very rapidly in ultraviolet light, and as soon as it absorbs water
and bacteria get to work on it. Commercial sheet has a lot of
additions to discourage this, so there is a gradation from some
plastic bags designed to degrade to polytunnel sheet, which is
very durable.

PVC is almost invariably non-degradable.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.




Your mentioning ultraviolet light reminds me that my compost bins are
covered. I'm now having second thoughts. My bags may be meant to
degrade but, by excluding light, I may be removing an essential link in
the chain. Alas, the bags came in a plain cover, so no way of knowing
what they're made of. I may just have to experiment.

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

Biodegradeable Compost bags
 

On 14/07/2014 22:29, Spider wrote:
On 14/07/2014 13:54, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
News wrote:
On 11/07/2014 16:05, Spider wrote:
I've never used these bags in my compost bins before because I didn't
really trust them to break down. However, on buying a new compost
caddy, I find there are some inside.

Have others here found that these bags degrade well (completely
disappear would be good), or do they persist in the outdoor compost bin
months hence, only to be picked out by hand while riddling the compost?
Other irritants of this kind are tea bags and the supposedly
degradeable jiffy-type fibre pots.

When I first moved here, the previous residents had obviously used
plastic sacks all over the garden to suppress weeds. The garden was
scattered with thousands of shreds of black plastic bag:~((. This is
precisely what I do not wish to find in my usually perfect compost.

So the question is: do they really break down, or don't they?
Thanks for your time.

Not 100% sure but I assume so. We've been using small pale green ones
in an internal compost caddy for quite a long time. Although they are
obviously quite visible when they first go in a new compost section, I
don't recall seeing any bits in the older heaps. So I think they do
disintegrate but I'm not sure as to exactly how long they take.

It depends critically on the material. Pure polythene breaks down
very rapidly in ultraviolet light, and as soon as it absorbs water
and bacteria get to work on it. Commercial sheet has a lot of
additions to discourage this, so there is a gradation from some
plastic bags designed to degrade to polytunnel sheet, which is
very durable.

PVC is almost invariably non-degradable.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.




Your mentioning ultraviolet light reminds me that my compost bins are
covered. I'm now having second thoughts. My bags may be meant to
degrade but, by excluding light, I may be removing an essential link in
the chain. Alas, the bags came in a plain cover, so no way of knowing
what they're made of. I may just have to experiment.

I wouldn't worry, just chuck them in, after all they wont get much light
in the bin, covered or not.
You could always leave them out in the sunlight for a week or so before
binning them

Biodegradeable Compost bags
 

On 14/07/2014 22:35, David Hill wrote:
On 14/07/2014 22:29, Spider wrote:
On 14/07/2014 13:54, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
News wrote:
On 11/07/2014 16:05, Spider wrote:
I've never used these bags in my compost bins before because I didn't
really trust them to break down. However, on buying a new compost
caddy, I find there are some inside.

Have others here found that these bags degrade well (completely
disappear would be good), or do they persist in the outdoor compost
bin
months hence, only to be picked out by hand while riddling the
compost?
Other irritants of this kind are tea bags and the supposedly
degradeable jiffy-type fibre pots.

When I first moved here, the previous residents had obviously used
plastic sacks all over the garden to suppress weeds. The garden was
scattered with thousands of shreds of black plastic bag:~((. This is
precisely what I do not wish to find in my usually perfect compost.

So the question is: do they really break down, or don't they?
Thanks for your time.

Not 100% sure but I assume so. We've been using small pale green ones
in an internal compost caddy for quite a long time. Although they are
obviously quite visible when they first go in a new compost section, I
don't recall seeing any bits in the older heaps. So I think they do
disintegrate but I'm not sure as to exactly how long they take.

It depends critically on the material. Pure polythene breaks down
very rapidly in ultraviolet light, and as soon as it absorbs water
and bacteria get to work on it. Commercial sheet has a lot of
additions to discourage this, so there is a gradation from some
plastic bags designed to degrade to polytunnel sheet, which is
very durable.

PVC is almost invariably non-degradable.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.




Your mentioning ultraviolet light reminds me that my compost bins are
covered. I'm now having second thoughts. My bags may be meant to
degrade but, by excluding light, I may be removing an essential link in
the chain. Alas, the bags came in a plain cover, so no way of knowing
what they're made of. I may just have to experiment.

I wouldn't worry, just chuck them in, after all they wont get much light
in the bin, covered or not.
You could always leave them out in the sunlight for a week or so before
binning them

Our council experimented with bags made from cornstarch. Apparently they
stank to high heaven in storage and vermin found them irresistible, so
they were quickly dropped (and presumably used as animal feed)

Biodegradeable Compost bags
 

On 14/07/2014 22:35, David Hill wrote:
On 14/07/2014 22:29, Spider wrote:
On 14/07/2014 13:54, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
News wrote:
On 11/07/2014 16:05, Spider wrote:
I've never used these bags in my compost bins before because I didn't
really trust them to break down. However, on buying a new compost
caddy, I find there are some inside.

Have others here found that these bags degrade well (completely
disappear would be good), or do they persist in the outdoor compost
bin
months hence, only to be picked out by hand while riddling the
compost?
Other irritants of this kind are tea bags and the supposedly
degradeable jiffy-type fibre pots.

When I first moved here, the previous residents had obviously used
plastic sacks all over the garden to suppress weeds. The garden was
scattered with thousands of shreds of black plastic bag:~((. This is
precisely what I do not wish to find in my usually perfect compost.

So the question is: do they really break down, or don't they?
Thanks for your time.

Not 100% sure but I assume so. We've been using small pale green ones
in an internal compost caddy for quite a long time. Although they are
obviously quite visible when they first go in a new compost section, I
don't recall seeing any bits in the older heaps. So I think they do
disintegrate but I'm not sure as to exactly how long they take.

It depends critically on the material. Pure polythene breaks down
very rapidly in ultraviolet light, and as soon as it absorbs water
and bacteria get to work on it. Commercial sheet has a lot of
additions to discourage this, so there is a gradation from some
plastic bags designed to degrade to polytunnel sheet, which is
very durable.

PVC is almost invariably non-degradable.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.




Your mentioning ultraviolet light reminds me that my compost bins are
covered. I'm now having second thoughts. My bags may be meant to
degrade but, by excluding light, I may be removing an essential link in
the chain. Alas, the bags came in a plain cover, so no way of knowing
what they're made of. I may just have to experiment.

I wouldn't worry, just chuck them in, after all they wont get much light
in the bin, covered or not.
You could always leave them out in the sunlight for a week or so before
binning them



Yes, that sounds sensible. I'll put them outside in a bucket to contain
any leakage and see what happens. Apart from not wanting scraps of
plastic film in my bins, I'm a bit precious about my trillions of lovely
worms and don't want to harm them.
Thanks for you advice, David.

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

Biodegradeable Compost bags
 

On 15/07/2014 12:06, stuart noble wrote:
On 14/07/2014 22:35, David Hill wrote:
On 14/07/2014 22:29, Spider wrote:
On 14/07/2014 13:54, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
News wrote:
On 11/07/2014 16:05, Spider wrote:
I've never used these bags in my compost bins before because I didn't
really trust them to break down. However, on buying a new compost
caddy, I find there are some inside.

Have others here found that these bags degrade well (completely
disappear would be good), or do they persist in the outdoor compost
bin
months hence, only to be picked out by hand while riddling the
compost?
Other irritants of this kind are tea bags and the supposedly
degradeable jiffy-type fibre pots.

When I first moved here, the previous residents had obviously used
plastic sacks all over the garden to suppress weeds. The garden was
scattered with thousands of shreds of black plastic bag:~((. This is
precisely what I do not wish to find in my usually perfect compost.

So the question is: do they really break down, or don't they?
Thanks for your time.

Not 100% sure but I assume so. We've been using small pale green ones
in an internal compost caddy for quite a long time. Although they are
obviously quite visible when they first go in a new compost section, I
don't recall seeing any bits in the older heaps. So I think they do
disintegrate but I'm not sure as to exactly how long they take.

It depends critically on the material. Pure polythene breaks down
very rapidly in ultraviolet light, and as soon as it absorbs water
and bacteria get to work on it. Commercial sheet has a lot of
additions to discourage this, so there is a gradation from some
plastic bags designed to degrade to polytunnel sheet, which is
very durable.

PVC is almost invariably non-degradable.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.




Your mentioning ultraviolet light reminds me that my compost bins are
covered. I'm now having second thoughts. My bags may be meant to
degrade but, by excluding light, I may be removing an essential link in
the chain. Alas, the bags came in a plain cover, so no way of knowing
what they're made of. I may just have to experiment.

I wouldn't worry, just chuck them in, after all they wont get much light
in the bin, covered or not.
You could always leave them out in the sunlight for a week or so before
binning them

Our council experimented with bags made from cornstarch. Apparently they
stank to high heaven in storage and vermin found them irresistible, so
they were quickly dropped (and presumably used as animal feed)



:~) I've always thought these cornstarch products a bit risky where
rodents are concerned. The cornstarch packaging beads are a case in
point. They crush more easily than their more chemical cousins, to
start with, but I wouldn't want to store them for very long in a
packaging department!

Just in case my bags are cornstarch-based, I'll eventually put them in
my metal ex-dustbin composter. Thanks for the thought.

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay