Bio degradeable compost bags

[FionaH]

They dont biodegrade!

Does anyone else use the degradeable plastic bags for kitchen caddies? The blurb says they rot down, and they dont. I had some in the compost bin for nearly a year, then buried in a trench under the beans, and I am still digging up bits of plastic.

What do other people use?

[Two_Sheds]

No, biodegradable plastic bags don't rot down, they just disintegrate into millions of pieces (the process is accelerated by exposure to sunlight, so burying them won't help)

I think it's rubbish. I line my compost caddy with a carrier bag, which is emptied, rinsed out and reused.

[SarzWix]

Are they the ones supposed to be made of corn starch or something like that? I've got some in the drawer but I usually just use a sheet of newspaper.

[FionaH]

They come from Sainsbury and state that they compost down, me thinks they fib a bit!

[seasprout]

They come from Sainsbury and state that they compost down, me thinks they fib a bit!

I bet its not stated anywhere how long it takes to rot away.

I got several rolls of these corn starch bags in a sale for 50p a roll last year and have been using those, I also found they hung around in the compost for ages, I ended up emptying the green stuff into my wormery and compost bins, then dumping the compost bag into the household trash.!

I still have a roll to use, but when finished wont ever be buying them again.

[Alison]

I've never found any reason to use bags, just put everything in the kitchen caddy and then rinse it out with the last of the washing up water after I've emptied it. That way I can spread the kitchen waste out across the wormery / compost bin also rather than ending up with a big solid lump.

[vicky]

Lining with newspaper is easy, stops too much build up of gunk in the caddy and rots down very quickly.

[BumbleB]

Looking for a similar material to act as temporary weed suppressant in some new raised beds. These are front garden beds that will be used for small shrubs, flowers and annuals. The soil is packed full of tiny bulbs - a white star flower with grass like leaves. I was hoping to prevent these from flowering but the soil to still have some root depth.

[OverWyreGrower]

I've used the ones from Lakeland (link)for a while now, and I moved my compost bins at the weekend...

Only the most recent ones were left, and they were coming apart nicely...

Further down the bin, there was nothing left of them, just eggshells that hadn't quite gone.

[Amberlilly]

I either use newspaper or paper bags that my organic delivery comes in (when i dont have any of my own produce to eat).

[Bren In Pots]

I put a hand full of paper out of the shredder in the bottom of my caddy, when I tip it the papers handy to scrap any stuff stuck to the sides before I rinse the bucket under the water butt.