ReSEAcled Poo Bags

Like many eco-conscious pet owners, we started out believing that biodegradable poo bags were the eco-friendly solution to conventional poo bags. We thought they were made from plants and that they’d biodegrade regardless of where they ended up, leaving no trace... How wrong we were!

After a good year of research, speaking with plastic experts and sustainability consultants from The Rubbish Project, we discovered biodegradability doesn't guarantee 'eco-friendliness'. In fact, biodegradable plastic is just as problematic as normal plastic and may even create more problems than it wishes solve.

After we surveyed our customers we discovered that less than 5% of people were composting our compostable poo bags, meaning the majority went to landfill or incineration.

But then we discovered that landfill doesn't have the right conditions for their biodegradation (e.g. no oxygen), so our compostable poo bags wouldn't breakdown there, persisting for potentially hundreds of years, with the added problem of releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas! In this sense, they were probably worse than normal plastic in landfill.

In fact lots of research now shows that biodegradable and compostable plastic behaves like regular plastic in the real world, persisting for years before fragmenting into microplastics.

Then it got us thinking, if all poo bags are single-use and go straight to landfill or incineration, is it sustainable to use precious food crops and huge amounts of water, land, chemicals and GMOs to make them?

It turns out that 'plant-based' plastic has an extremely large environmental footprint, potentially larger than normal plastic and competes with human food production. What's more, these 'plant-based' poo bags still rely heavily on fossil fuels and are made with up to 80% PBAT, a biodegradable plastic made from petrochemicals!

We concluded that biodegradability is a myth (and is kind of pointless if most poo bags go to landfill or are burnt!). It was clear that what matters most is what they're made of and fossil fuels and food crops didn't sound sustainable to us (or our sustainability consultants).

So we decided it's time for change. We didn't want to keep producing new plastic that we knew would end up in landfill or incineration. Instead, we created our new ReSEAcled poo bags from waste that was already destined to go there! In this sense, we knew we wouldn't be adding any new waste to landfill/incineration and would help clean up existing plastic pollution.

Recycling plastic is also proven to use less energy and produce fewer carbon emissions than making plastic from virgin materials. It also avoids the many environmental problems with plant-based plastic, such as deforestation and competition with human food production.

No.

But research shows that even 'biodegradable' and 'compostable' plastic does not biodegrade in the real world and contributes to microplastics. Nothing properly biodegrades in landfill either, which is sadly where most poo bags end up! Or they often go to incineration, rendering biodegradability irrelevant.

Nonetheless, since our bags are made from waste that was already destined to go to landfill, you're helping reduce the amount of new waste going there - nice one.

China.

We tried to make these locally but were unable to find a suitable factory that could make poo bags to our specifications and at an acceptable cost.

As of 2024, we have not found any poo bags that are made in the UK.

To help mitigate this impact, we ship our poo bags by sea and never fly anything in. The manufacturer we partner with also has had a SMETA 4-pillar audit, that assesses labour standards, health & safety, environmental assessments and business ethics.

General waste at home or dog poo bins.

While they are technically recyclable, they cannot be recycled due to their contents!

No, if you compost your dog's poo you are better off without any poo bags or using certified home compostable poo bags.

Each poo bag measures approximately 24cm from top to bottom (36cm from top of handles to bottom of bag) and when opened they measure approximately 22cm wide.

They are 15 microns thick.

No, we only use oyster shell waste. Large amounts of these shells are thrown into landfill or back into the sea as a waste product of the aquaculture industry. We do not demand more oysters for farming but just use existing waste.

There are 15 bags on a roll and 16 rolls in a box (240 bags in total).

The bags use 25-30% virgin plastic.
We have experimented with 100% recycled content but unfortunately the strength and quality were compromised. We are working towards 100% recycled content in the future.

However, these current bags are still better than compostable/biodegradable bags that can include 50-80% virgin fossil fuel based plastic (PBAT) or non-recycled bags.

While not perfect, until we have the infrastructure to compost dog poo on a large scale and biodegradable poo bags that are genuinely made of sustainable materials, we believe these ReSEAcled Poo Bags are the least harmful option for our planet.

1. Whilst marketed as "plant-based", in reality, they still contain 50% to 80% fossil fuels (e.g. PBAT).
2. We lack the infrastructure to collect and industrially compost dog poo and less than 5% of people compost at home. This means these bags go to landfill or incineration. In landfill, they do not breakdown properly and produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In incineration, they can produce more carcinogens than some types of normal plastic.
   
3. These bags give people the false impression that they will quickly "break-down" in any natural environment. But many studies show that biodegradable and compostable plastic often fails to biodegrade in real world environments, remaining intact for years before fragmenting into microplastics.
4. New research shows 60% of certified home compostable bags don't reliably biodegrade in home compost, fragmenting into microplastics that could contaminate food plants.
5. There's a high level of customer confusion surrounding the terms biodegradable, degradable and compostable bags. Meaning the wrong bags may end up in the wrong place, where they will not breakdown.
6. Some life cycle analyses indicate that plant-based plastic is the same, if not worse, than normal plastic, in terms of climate change, air pollution, ecotoxicity and energy use. This is mainly due to the industrial farming practices used to grow these crops, which undermines it's potential sustainability.
7. Plant-based plastic currently relies on food crops so directly competes with human food production, land, and water security. These scarce resources should be used to feed people of the world who are already battling with starvation.
8. Research suggests 'biodegradability' claims may increase the incidence of littering, with many thinking the bags will breakdown if left in the environment, which they don't.

Until we have sustainable compostable poo bags that reliably biodegrade and the infrastructure to actually compost them, we don't believe compostable (or biodegradable) poo bags can be considered 'eco-friendly'. This is in line with expert advice (as also discussed on BBC Radio 4 podcast 'Sliced Bread').

Visit this page for a list of our references and sources.

Did you know that recycled materials cost more than virgin materials? Despite this, we keep our poo bags competitively priced and try to absorb as much of this cost as possible. We also use a portion of profits to fund the collection and recycling of one plastic bottle per bag.

Why oyster shells?

• The shell of an oyster represents more than 70% of its total weight, meaning every year processing oysters for food leaves behind millions of tons of waste shell, most of which is historically landfilled. We're putting this waste stream to better use.
  
• Sustainability - Oyster farming is widely considered sustainable, due to their rapid growth and need for few resources. In fact they can actually have a net positive environmental impact due to their ability to clean the water of pollutants and sequester carbon dioxide.
• A responsible supply chain - Our oyster shells are mostly sourced from coastal areas in Asia. Working in the oyster trade is a full time occupation for many residents of the villages in the surrounding area. Like many local industries, individual households have the opportunity to make a living by providing a small part of the whole process. In this way, everyone has a way to earn money without one large entity controlling their employment. The ‘shucking’ is normally done by older female family members, but the industry involves the construction and renewal of the oyster bed infrastructure and preparing and transporting both the oyster meat and the shell. The requirements of the industry are diverse and it provides work for men and women of all ages.
• The calcite in the shells can be added to plastic to reduce its fossil fuel content, without compromising quality or functionality. The mining of limestone for Calcite is typically environmentally destructive but converting waste shells to calcite is comparatively simple and requires less energy. It is also quickly renewable.

Don't just take our word for it.

Our poo bags are made in a factory certified by 'The Global Recycled Standard' meaning an independent party has inspected and assessed the factory to verify their use of recycled materials and ensure responsible social, environmental and chemical practices in their production.