Biodegradable plastics are plastics that will decompose in natural aerobic (composting) and anaerobic (landfill) environments. Biodegradation of plastics can be achieved by enabling microorganisms in the environment to metabolize the molecular structure of plastic films to produce an inert humus-like material that is less harmful to the environment. They may be composed of either bioplastics, which are plastics whose components are derived from renewable raw materials, or petroleum-based plastics which utilize an additive. The use of bio-active compounds compounded with swelling agents ensures that, when combined with heat and moisture, they expand the plastic's molecular structure and allow the bio-active compounds to metabolize and neutralize the plastic.

Environmental benefits of biodegradable plastics

Biodegradable plastics are not a panacea, however. Some critics claim that a potential environmental disadvantage of certified biodegradable plastics is that the carbon that is locked up in them is released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. However, biodegradable plastics from natural materials, such as vegetable crop derivatives or animal products, sequester CO2 during the phase when they're growing, only to release CO2 when they're decomposing, so there is no net gain in carbon dioxide emissions.

However, certified biodegradable plastics require a specific environment of moisture and oxygen to biodegrade, conditions found in professionally managed composting facilities. There is much debate about the total carbon, fossil fuel and water usage in processing biodegradable plastics from natural materials and whether they are a negative impact to human food supply. Traditional plastics made from non-renewable fossil fuels lock up much of the carbon in the plastic as opposed to being utilized in the processing of the plastic. The carbon is permanently trapped inside the plastic lattice, and is rarely recycled.

There is concern that another greenhouse gas, methane, might be released when any biodegradable material, including truly biodegradable plastics, degrades in an anaerobic (landfill) environment. Methane production from these specially managed landfill environments are typically captured and burned to negate the release of methane in the environment. Some landfills today capture the methane biogas for use in clean inexpensive energy. Of course, incinerating non-biodegradable plastics will release carbon dioxide as well. Disposing of biodegradable plastics made from natural materials in anaerobic (landfill) environments will result in the plastic lasting for hundred of years.

The US EPA has mandated strict standards for landfill design and construction to prevent biodegradation in a landfill in the first place. The intentional production of methane from landfills is, therefore, the rare exception and not the rule for most municipal solid waste.
It is also possible that bacteria will eventually develop the ability to degrade plastics. This has already happened with nylon: two types of nylon eating bacteria, Flavobacteria and Pseudomonas, were found in 1975 to possess enzymes (nylonase) capable of breaking down nylon. While not a solution to the disposal problem, it is likely that bacteria will evolve the ability to use other synthetic plastics as well. In 2008, a 16-year-old boy reportedly isolated two plastic-consuming bacteria.