Composting Biodegradable or Recyclable Magazine Wrappers

Single use plastics have never before been under more scrutiny and nearly every industry is looking at ways to phase out single use plastics and become more sustainable. Within the publication industry it has long been popular to bag a magazine in plastic ensuring that additional supplements/freebies are secured with the issue when sold or dispatched – indeed also potentially preventing the pile up of those unwanted leaflets that are subtly left on magazine racks before purchase.

So it has been warmly received to see publications such as The Guardian, National Trust, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the RHS The Garden magazine announce that they have embraced new environmentally friendly materials to bag their magazines.

The big question – can these be added into the HOTBIN?

Compostable BIOPLAST® 300

Popular with The Guardian, National Trust and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, these wrappers are made from potato waste processed to release starch which is then manufactured into granules to produce the material for wrappers. BIOPLAST® 300 is 100% biodegradable and certified “OK Compost HOME”, this classifies it as being disposable with food waste, garden compost or in green council recycling bins. As BIOPLAST® 300 is compostable at lower temperatures it is considered suitable to add to any compost heap. Therefore, although not yet tested, there is no reason that this type of material cannot be added into the HOTBIN where the higher temperatures will lead to even speedier composting of the wrappers.

Paper Wrapping

The RHS has switched to paper wrapping for their monthly subscriber magazine ‘The Garden’, This paper wrap can be easily recycled or composted helping with moisture control in the HOTBIN.

As always, we would recommend that when adding these materials that they are chopped into smaller pieces to prevent any airflow issues and added in with fresh waste.