Note that there are two kinds of &quot;biodegradable&quot; plastics. Vegetable based plastics (which are definitely unproblematic when left in the environment) and &quot;OXO-biodegradable&quot; plastics which are just normal plastics (like PE, PP, PS) with additions that make them break down quicker than normally. If a bag feels like a normal plastic bag then it will be one of the latter kind; vegetable based plastics have a different feel to them (kind of rubbery), to my understanding; since they are produced in a different way (by a different industry), and more expensive, you rarely encounter them.<p>The Wikipedia article on OXO biodegradable plastics[1] seems to be heavily edited by industry participants. Last I heard[2] was that OXO-biodegradable plastics are basically cheating, as they leave the plastic in the wild, just invisibly (perhaps even making things worse as then it can&#x27;t be collected anymore?). The Wikipedia article argues that the fragments will be decomposed by organisms. I don&#x27;t know which is true, but wanted to point out that there are two kinds and you should be careful not to mix them up in discussions.<p><pre><code>    [1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Oxo_Biodegradable
    [2] from the film Addicted To Plastic [3] 
        or other places, not sure anymore
    [3] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.crypticmoth.com&#x2F;plastic.php</code></pre>