Environment Report: Compostable Bags Still Not Compostable

Two-parter this week. We’re going to make a pit stop on the topic of San Diego’s non-compostable, compostable product market. And then finish off with what new San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava told me about his upcoming tenure as one of the region’s most powerful agenda-setters.  

The plastic bag company I wrote about a few months ago wanted me to let you all know that they re-upped their certification with a European company, TÜV AUSTRIA, to produce compostable plastic bags. I reported back in September that California-based plastics company, Crown Poly, didn’t have valid certificates from the company that was supposed to verify its compostable bags claims. Yet the bags– which can be found at Trader Joe’s, Lazy Acres and other granola grocery stores – still marketed that they were compostable in both backyard and commercial facilities.  

CrownPoly sent me their certification report showing its Pull N Pak bag, designed for compost bins, shopping and produce bags now have that certification again. But not before TÜV AUSTRIA had to reevaluate whether they still counted as compostable. The thickness of the bag had increased and the raw materials changed which deserved another assessment.  

The raw materials for their compostable bags come from an Italian company called Mater-Bi which makes bioplastics from starches, cellulose and vegetable oils. TÜV AUSTRIA already OK’s Mater-Bi’s materials — though what they assess is whether these materials will “disintegrate.”  

Jennifer Brandon, a plastics expert I spoke with back in August, said it’s important to pay attention to the terms these companies use. Compostable doesn’t necessarily mean biodegradable, when a product naturally breaks down into carbon and other elements without any help (like tossing an apple core in the dirt).  

Biodegradation is that chemical process. Disintegration is a physical process. Both have to occur for something to decompose completely. Danny Bozarth, a CrownPoly spokesman, told me in an email the bags should degrade both at-home and in a commercial composter in less than 180 days – that’s about six months or twice the time it takes an apple core to decompose. 

Plastics made of oil, gas or fossil fuels will basically never biodegrade. They may break down into smaller pieces, aka microplastics, but these plastics are so processed and their carbon bonds so old, they almost never break down, Brandon said.   

Then there’s plant-based plastics. Crown Poly’s bags are advertised as made from 100 percent vegetable starches, which seems to be true according to its certification report.  

I can’t tell you how or when. The world of composting certification is sort of a mystery. Studies conducted on products to prove that plastic-substitute materials break down into pure or small enough parts to be re-accepted by nature are often hidden or proprietary, meaning the companies own the information and their certifiers won’t share it.  

Certification or not, it doesn’t matter: Now that’s over, may I remind you of the unfortunate fact that you should NOT throw CrownPoly’s bags, or any cup, straw or wrapper marked “compostable” or “biodegradable” into your green bin. The city of San Diego, the County of San Diego and private haulers including Republic Services, Waste Management, EDCO (that’s as far as I researched) don’t accept those products – as hard as the companies that make them try.  

Not all products break down the same way, the city of San Diego’s spokesperson for the Environmental Services Department told me back in August. And the products that don’t break down well contaminate and diminish the quality of the final compost, they said.  

LaCava, Now Prez, Won’t Abandon Enviro Posts 

Of San Diego’s nine councilmembers, none have arguably done more behind the scenes on the environment recently than Joe LaCava.  

As board chair, he’s guided through its budding years, San Diego Community Power – a co-op of cities that combine money made from their residents’ energy bills and put it toward securing and building renewable energy projects. Community Power secured over $7.3 billion in long-term energy contracts so far, according to spokesperson Jen Lebron. The company competes to offer lower electric rates than the region’s long standing private competitor, San Diego Gas & Electric. Back in 2021, LaCava spoke out and voted against the city resigning its monopoly-granting contract with SDG&E, owned by gas company Sempra.  

He got behind the campaign to “re-wild” Mission Bay’s northeastern corner where the last remaining patch of native saltmarsh still stands, abutted on all sides by development. He stood side by side with San Diego Bird Alliance (formerly San Diego Audubon Society) and representatives from the Kumeyaay tribe at rallies, calling for a plan to rebuild more wetlands than human recreational space. (Ultimately, the City Council opted for a plan with less wetlands than LaCava wanted.) 

He chaired the council’s Environment Committee, not typically a priority appointment for city councilmembers looking to build power as say, the budget or rules-making committees. And, while I’m not personally a fan of this hallmark, the coastal councilmember got wood-burning bonfires banned from city beaches – a win for seaside residents whose lawns are exposed to bonfire smoke, but a loss for everyone else who now has to purchase propane (a fossil fuel) to enjoy a Pacific sunset.  

In an interview just before Christmas, LaCava told me that while he’d eventually abandon his post as chair, he’d stay on the San Diego Community Power board as San Diego’s alternate. But he’ll continue to lead the board through this next round of rate setting which is typically over by February. But as council president he could play another major role: Preparing the city to challenge SDG&E on its franchise contract which would be up for another 10-year renewal around 2031. LaCava had called for a five-year contract term back when it was being negotiated.  

“Technically our franchise agreements expire in 10 years. Everybody talks about it like it’s an automatic renewal. It doesn’t have to be,” LaCava told me. “It’s incumbent on councilmembers to keep a sharp eye on that.”  

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera will take over as Environment Committee chair. I asked how he will ensure the city’s Climate Action Plan goals won’t fall by the wayside as the city struggles with a $258 million budget deficit. The engineer by training pointed to another bit of nerdom, an administrative regulation – as it’s known – or an internal rule within city government that directs each department to view everything it does through the lens of its Climate Action plan. Passed on Dec. 16, each city department has to report how it’s working on pieces of the Climate Action Plan as an accompaniment to its budget requests. 

This year he’ll serve as vice chair of the San Diego Association of Governments, the region’s transportation planning agency, where he will have a chance to influence the biggest source of San Diego’s emissions: Driving gas-powered cars.  

In Other News  

• In other LaCava news, the First District rep said he wants to end nightly summertime SeaWorld fireworks, linked to bird deaths in Mission Bay. (Voice of San Diego) 
• An investigating attorney at a law firm preparing to sue SeaWorld San Diego at the end of the month revealed what lies beneath the fireworks launchpad following a scuba dive. (Voice of San Diego) 
• San Diego escaped any dramatic wildfire activity during the latest, deadly bout of wildfires. But Santa Ana winds are picking up again in San Diego (and Los Angeles which suffered devastating loss of life and property). (Fox 5) But thousands went without power last week as a precautionary measure by SDG&E to de-energize power lines so they wouldn’t spark fires. (Union-Tribune) 
• What the heck are Santa Ana winds? In short, they are highly pressurized air masses from the deserts that blow west toward the coast, areas with air masses experiencing low pressure (high pressure likes to flow toward low pressure, that’s the general rule). That air exchange can create hurricane-force winds as they did in Los Angeles. But USA Today has a nice explainer with some graphics. (USA Today)  
• Our Sacramento reporter Deborah Brennan describes how human-caused climate change is driving Californian’s electric bills according to state budget analysts. (Voice of San Diego) 
• Imperial Valley advocacy groups lost in their attempt to bring a lawsuit against lithium extraction companies for allegedly downplaying how much water the project would need and inadequately addressing air quality impacts. A Superior court judge said those companies aren’t required to speculate about the future environmental consequences of their project. (inewsource) 
• San Diego’s Natural History Museum has a new free resource for schools and parents looking to incorporate outdoor education in their child’s lives called “Nature Buds.” Here’s the link to the workbook.