Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 21, 1993 TAG: 9302210075
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`BIODEGRADABLE' DOESN'T REALLY MEAN MUCH IN A LANDFILL
Everywhere you turn these days there's a product labeled BIODEGRADABLE.But is that a good thing?
If you're shredding newspaper for mulch, yes. It's good that it rots.
But if you're sending the same paper to a landfill, the fact that it's biodegradable doesn't much matter.
A material only breaks down if it's exposed to oxygen. And if it's packed tightly in a landfill, it will be there until the cows really do come home.
In a landfill, a paper plate isn't any different from a plastic one.
Modern-day archaeologists have found meats intact years after being placed in landfills.
Plus, with the new requirements that landfills be lined with plastic to prevent runoff reaching ground-water supplies, biodegradable products might not be at all desirable.
So, when you shop for "environmentally friendly" things to buy, don't pay much attention to the biodegradable label.
There are many things citizens can do, however, to cut down on the amount of waste and make it more cost-efficient for municipalities and companies to recycle.
What recycles and what doesn't?
How should an item be prepared for recycling?
Why does a municipal program accept milk cartons and a community recycling facility reject them?
Ken Beachum, buyer for Cycle Systems, which has a community recycling center on its grounds in Southwest Roanoke, fields a lot of questions like these.
And, sometimes his answer is: "It depends."
"Use common sense," said Dee Dudley, vice president of the family-owned Handy Dump Inc., a Roanoke waste-hauling company.
Dudley, a mother of three, said she likes to tell her children about how their grandmother used to save aluminum and reuse it to encourage them to think about reuse of products.
Dudley said she reuses plastic bags as trash can liners.
But, at the grocery store, she selects plastic or paper by deciding "which holds my groceries the best."