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If You Throw a Compostable Cup in the Trash, Does It Still Break Down?


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NO!

"Compostable products are all the rage these days. But what happens to these items — including compostable straws and silverware — when they're thrown into a landfill instead of a compost heap?

The answer is not as green as you might think. 

The composting process requires oxygen and, for the most part, landfills are sealed, airtight — and therefore oxygen-free — containers within the ground. "Since landfill conditions are generally anaerobic [i.e., without oxygen], these materials do not 'compost'; instead they either persist or break down anaerobically," Peter Canepa, a life cycle assessment specialist with the Department of Environmental Quality in Oregon, told Live Science in an email. [The Science Behind Composting] "

https://www.livescience.com/63597-compost-trash-in-landfills.html

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