Recycling experts are testing biodegradable plates and cups to see if they can be composted at San Diego's Miramar Landfill.
In one instance a one-liter beer cup, that used to look and feel plastic, broke down to tiny bits in a compost mix that's mostly lawn and food waste.
"Like the New Belgian cups were broken down after about a week," said one city staffer.
The cups are not plastic. They're made from corn and they're marketed as disposable and compostable. Paige Hailey works for San Diego's environmental services department. She says the city has been asked by some institutional customers, who compost food waste, if they can throw away compostable cups, plates and cutlery with the food.
"And so before we begin to accept them or even begin thinking about accepting them we want to make sure that the products they want to use do break down," said Hailey.
Recyclers say city residents may someday be able to put compostable cups in their yard waste. The city's compost study will be done in April.
