Nearly every material will biodegrade, given enough time. But the length of the biodegradation process is highly dependent on environmental parameters such as humidity and temperature, which is why claiming that a plastic is “biodegradable” without any further context (i.e., in what timeframe and under what environmental conditions) is misleading to consumers.

Biodegradable materials are materials that can be broken down by microorganisms (bacteria or fungi) into water, naturally occurring gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) and biomass. Biodegradability depends completely on the environmental conditions: temperature, presence of microorganisms, presence of oxygen and water etc.

This means that just because a material is technically biodegradable, it may require very specific conditions in order for the process to occur.

Compostable materials are materials that break down at composting conditions, of which there are two categories: Industrial composting and Home composting. Industrial composting conditions are typically 50-60⁰C combined with high humidity and the presence of oxygen (aerobic).

For a product to be labelled as compostable it must comply with European standard EN 13432 which specifies that it must fully disintegrate within 3 months in these conditions. It’s important to note however that many industrial composting facilities have been optimised to compost food waste.

In some cases anaerobic digestion processes are used which are unable to break down non-food stuff, and in others the aerobic composting cycles are too short (6-8 weeks) to break materials down fully. As a result, compostable product and packaging is not currently permitted in curb-side food waste collection in the UK.

Climate drawdown refers to the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline.

Drawdown is a milestone in reversing climate change, and eventually reducing global average temperatures. There is current research that argues a drawdown approach is more effective than a carbon offset, and more aligned to current needs to reach 1.5 degrees.

Greenwashing is a term given to a product, or a company when it makes false claims over the product's sustainable credentials.

The Green Claims Act, introduced in 2022 is a method to hold companies accountable for both their actions and their claims. Further information here.

In simple terms, offsetting is counteracting the amount of carbon you are creating. It should not be seen as a ‘get out of jail card’ nor a justification to not consider the overall design impact and other critical areas to lessen the overall design and production emissions and uses of natural capital.

To offset your emissions you must purchase the equivalent volume of carbon credits (independently verified emissions reductions) to compensate for them. The payments you make to purchase these carbon credits (carbon finance) is what makes the emissions reductions projects which created them, financially viable and sustainable.

While often confused with biodegradable plastics, oxo-degradables are a category unto themselves. They are neither a bioplastic nor a biodegradable plastic, but rather a conventional plastic mixed with an additive in order to imitate biodegradation. Oxo-degradable plastics quickly fragment into smaller and smaller pieces, called micro-plastics, but don’t break down at the molecular or polymer level like biodegradable and compostable plastics. The resulting micro-plastics are left in the environment indefinitely until they eventually fully break down.

Introduced in the 1970s in the hope of removing ‘unsightly plastic’ from littering the countryside, oxo-degradable additives were banned from use in plastics by the EU in 2021.

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept.

The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its original state. It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions.

It can also prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy use, air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling).

A resource is considered ‘renewable’ if it can be naturally regenerated on a human timescale. This means that the rate of regeneration has to keep up with harvesting and consumption. Therefore bio-based does not necessarily mean renewable: regeneration of tropical hardwood, for instance, does not naturally keep up with logging activities.

In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined Sustainability as, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”