How biodegradable are bio BBs?

[DanBow]

I have a 3d printer that uses PLA filament. Even though the filament is made from all organic ingredients, it's only biodegradable in very specific circumstances, involving heat and pressure. So not biodegradable at all really. 

As Bio BBs are made from PLA are they the same, not biodegradable? Is it just a marketing thing to make landowners feel like they're being good?

Or are BBs different?

 

[Shamal]

There is a site I use that only allow bio and from what I have seen the bbs swell up to about 10mm and become crumbly. 

 

[Cannonfodder]

As I understand it the biodegradable label is a bit misleading. They will decompose but need a hot environment so compostable would be a better description. UV light will also cause PLA to break down so sunlight will help

 

[Rogerborg]

There is a site I use that only allow bio and from what I have seen the bbs swell up to about 10mm and become crumbly. 

Hmm, interesting.  I've not seen swollen BBs at my local "bio" sites, I wonder if there's specific environmental or brand issues at play.

Previous research (it's on here somewhere, I can't find the magic search phrase) suggests that PLA will completely break down in an industrial composter in about 6 months, but out in the open, we're talking hundreds of years (rather than thousands for ABS).  Granted, small spheres with a large surface area should help, but posters here reported no appreciable degrading over months in plant-pot experiments.  I've had 0.43g BBs just start to crack on the surface under pressure after 2 years of garage storage.

Something I'd note is that 5.95mm of pure PLA would mass about 0.2g.  Anything heavier must be adulterated with something else, e.g. ceramic or metal.  When you get into 0.4g and above, the claim that we're slinging "plastic" starts to become rather suspect.

 

[Tommikka]

I have a 3d printer that uses PLA filament. Even though the filament is made from all organic ingredients, it's only biodegradable in very specific circumstances, involving heat and pressure. So not biodegradable at all really. 

As Bio BBs are made from PLA are they the same, not biodegradable? Is it just a marketing thing to make landowners feel like they're being good?

Or are BBs different?

It doesn’t mean something isn’t biodegradable, it just means a lack of awareness of what biodegrade is and the general use of the term to mean degradable

If it requires light then it’s degradable but not biodegradable and is also unsuitable for the woods

If it degrades underground, then once trodden in it will eventually degrade

Depending on the fine print and to what standards it’s defined deems how suitable it is for a site

If micro plastics are left then strictly speaking it should not be called biodegradable in the UK (I’m unsure if that’s in the legal parts of the standards or just a ‘should’

In that case any ‘biodegradable’ BB is better left as plastic in the ground then just plastic which could expose micro plastics into the environment 

Or of course play paintball and leave food grade gels in the woods instead

 

[Shamal]

Hmm, interesting.  I've not seen swollen BBs at my local "bio" sites, I wonder if there's specific environmental or brand issues at play.

Previous research (it's on here somewhere, I can't find the magic search phrase) suggests that PLA will completely break down in an industrial composter in about 6 months, but out in the open, we're talking hundreds of years (rather than thousands for ABS).  Granted, small spheres with a large surface area should help, but posters here reported no appreciable degrading over months in plant-pot experiments.  I've had 0.43g BBs just start to crack on the surface under pressure after 2 years of garage storage.

Something I'd note is that 5.95mm of pure PLA would mass about 0.2g.  Anything heavier must be adulterated with something else, e.g. ceramic or metal.  When you get into 0.4g and above, the claim that we're slinging "plastic" starts to become rather suspect.

It was my first time at camouflage Airsoft Bournemouth and I kept  seeing these large white mouldy looking balls and asked a regular player who told me they were the bio bbs. ?

 

[Stratton Oakmont]

It was my first time at camouflage Airsoft Bournemouth and I kept  seeing these large white mouldy looking balls and asked a regular player who told me they were the bio bbs. ?

Was that a euphemism he shared with you whilst you were in the toilets 

 

[Cannonfodder]

Or of course play paintball

View attachment 115852

 

[kasaran]

Remember finding some bio BBs that I shot into the garden a couple of years ago.  They had gone yellowy and brittle.  They crumbled if you pinched them.

 

[Sewdhull]

Biodegradable bbs break down over a few years kicking about, in the warm it's quicker or in the sun.

I was under the impression PLA was biodegradable.

 

[Rogerborg]

I was under the impression PLA was biodegradable.

It is, it's a question of how quickly.  I'd seen tens of years, but that could be for big lumps of the stuff, not ickle balls. It's heartening to hear that people are seeing it break down already, I'll have a closer look next time I'm on site.