No Microplastics - Home Compostable - Marine Biodegradable

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Yakkabean is a backyard compostable replacement for traditional media used in products.  Traditional plastics made from oil are polluting Earth and take 100's of years to break down, leaving microplastics and toxins behind when they do.  Cardboard and paper products contribute to deforestation and require large volumes of water and harsh chemicals in production.  Glass items take 1,000's of years to decompose.   Metal items also take up too much space in a landfill.

Yakkabean is backyard compostable and is biodegradable in a landfill.  It leaves behind select organic minerals that balance pH levels in soil.

• Degradable means it will break down over time in heat and sun-light, but tiny broken-down fragments of material (ie: microplastics) will remain in environment forever. 
• Biodegradable can decompose into water, carbon dioxide & biomass by living organisms such as microbes.  Depending on the ingredients used to make the material, microplastics and other harmful residues may be left behind.  
• Compostable means the item will break down into water, carbon dioxide and biomass leaving nothing unsavory behind.  Most compostable plastic can only be done at commercial compost facilities that have controlled conditions (heat, moisture, etc.).  For example, PLA is commercially compostable. 
• Backyard Compostable can disintegrate naturally into water, carbon dioxide and biomass.  Once it has fully composted, the nutrients will be absorbed by the soil and no toxic residue will remain.  This process can truly take place in your backyard.  When exposed to microorganisms they will eat away at Yakkabean until only select organic minerals are left behind.

Plastics can be placed in 1 of 4 categories:

• Fossil-based & nonbiodegradable (PE, PP, PET).  These are polymers made with ancient fossil carbon (from petroleum) and will eventually degrade.  Conventional plastics.
• Fossil-based & biodegradable (PBAT, PCL, PBS).  These are polymers produced using ancient fossil carbon, generally petroleum, but due to their molecular structure, they have ability to biodegrade.  PBAT does not degrade in marine nor fresh water.
• Bio-based & nonbiodegradable (Bio-PE, Bio-PET, Bio-PA, Bio-PTT).  These are polymers made using rapidly regenerative feedstocks, but they will not biodegrade once no longer needed.  These have the same molecular structure as fossil-based counterparts.
• Bio-based & biodegradable (PHA, PHB, PLA, PBS) These are polymers produced using rapidly regenerative feedstocks (plants, wastes, residual gases) PLA can only compost in a commercial facility when conditions are just right.  Currently there are not many commercial facilities for people to ship their used products to.  PHA & PHB will compost in backyard, landfill, anywhere with microorganisms present. 

It just hasn't happened at the rate promised.  A reported 13% is actually recycled.  You can only recycle plastic so many times before it's unusable.  Same with paper and cardboard.  

Plastic doesn't really go away.  It breaks down into microplastics that are circulating in the oceans, soil and air.   The original plastic produced in 1907 is still in your environment today.

Polylactic Acid (PLA) is made from starch such as corn and sugar.  In a commercial facility, it can decompose into water and carbon dioxide with conditions just right.   When buried in a landfill, PLA may remain intact for hundreds of years, just as long as other plastic items made from oil or natural gas.

Plastic bags in the ocean tear apart due to waves, constant motion, and UV light.  It takes them roughly 20 years to decompose and settle.  These bags can also leave behind microplastics and toxins.  Also - plastic bottles can take up to 450 years!  Fishing lines up to 600 years!

Petroleum based plastic does not compost, it must be recycled.  Currently only 13% of plastic gets recycled.  Plastic tends to break down into smaller particles, sometimes microplastics.  These microplastics are floating in our water and being ingested by animals.  Every molecule of plastic produced since 1907 is still present in our environment.

• Milk cartons ~ 5 years
• Tin cans ~ 50 years
• Disposable coffee cups ~ 30 years
• Traditional Drinking Straws ~ 200 years
• Glass ~ 1,000 years
• 6-pack plastic rings ~ 400 years
• Water bottle ~ 450 years
• Coffee pod (K-cup) ~ 500 years
• Toothbrush ~ 500 years
• Disposable diapers ~ 500 years

Rock weathering is a geological process locking away carbon dioxide (CO2).  It's Earth's natural process of keeping the climate in balance.  Enhanced rock weathering is accelerating that process by spreading specific finely ground minerals onto earth's surfaces.  

• CO2 in atmosphere combines with rain to make acidic rain.
• Acidic rain lands on minerals in silicate rock and a chemical reaction occurs (carbonation weathering) removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
• Rainwater with the dissolved bicarbonate ions eventually ends up in the ocean.
• In the ocean the bicarbonate ions are biomineralized to carbonate minerals that sink to the ocean floor where the CO2 is then stored permanently.