Those materials must fulfill opposite requirements: 1. not break down while used; 2. break down quickly after use. So no big surprise, if they take a long time.
The main problem here is standardization; without it, there's nothing clear about them, e.g. how much those materials share with plastics (ie. harmful additives). A consequence of this is what the article describes - they can't be properly treated.
Having said that, I find less worse to find a bag of material "derived from potato starch" in the ocean, rather than a plastic bag.
The main problem here is standardization; without it, there's nothing clear about them, e.g. how much those materials share with plastics (ie. harmful additives). A consequence of this is what the article describes - they can't be properly treated.
Having said that, I find less worse to find a bag of material "derived from potato starch" in the ocean, rather than a plastic bag.