There’s much confusion around Biodegradable poo bags, and although many people are led to believe that they break down and return to nature, this isn’t always the case. Biodegradable poo bags are still made from plastic, but are manufactured with an additive (now banned in the EU) called Totally Degradable Plastic Additive (TDPA) which makes plastic degrade quicker in the presence of oxygen, the bag then breaks down into smaller pieces, which actually makes it harder to recover than a standard plastic bag. For breakdown to occur, biodegradable bags require LOTS of oxygen, which is sparse when buried in a mountain of landfill (exactly where your poo bag ends up) and in this case, the poo bag remains intact exactly like a plastic bag. The best way to ensure that your biodegradable poo bag actually does what it's supposed to, is to set up a dog waste only composting bin in your garden.

Compostable poo bags are made from plant-based ingredients such as vegetable or corn starch, which sounds planet friendly, right? Unless you are planning on starting your own compost heap in the garden, most local authorities cannot accept compostable poo bags with food and garden waste. So what happens to the poop bags? You've guessed it, back in landfill. Most companies promote that their compostable poo bags break down to organic matter within 3 months, however, for breakdown to occur compostable poo bags need the right conditions including temperature, moisture level, pH, oxygen, and the microorganisms present which means that poo bags ending up in landfill take much longer to break down, as well as producing methane as they degrade. Compostable poo bags also tend to be much thinner and tear easily - dog poo under the nails is not a good look!

Our Pooch & Mutt poo bags aren't biodegradable and they're not compostable, we've opted to make them out of recycled post-consumer waste, which we believe could be helping to tackle the bigger issue at hand... cleaning up not just our poo but our planet too!

Unless you can start your own dog poo composting bin in your garden, which realistically isn't a viable solution for most dog owners, there is no perfect answer. However, we think that rather than using greenwashing to sell you a product that doesn't live up to the marketing hype, we're driving towards a more circular economy and will be transparent in our efforts to create a more planet-friendly product. We agree that a poo bag made from 100% recycled materials is the ultimate goal, but rather than misleading you to buy a product that will ultimately add to the waste crisis in the world, we'd rather start putting some of that recycled waste to good use - otherwise what is the point of recycling?