They’re marketed that way, but there’s a giant asterisk. They’re biodegradable in an industrial composter, and similar conditions are incredibly unlikely in nature. So they are, effectively, not biodegradable.
There is a new manufacturer called Terra that has apparently made “true” biodegradable Airsoft pellets
> They’re biodegradable in an industrial composter, and similar conditions are incredibly unlikely in nature.
Thinking of PLA, for me at least, it's fine if it takes years instead of weeks, as long as it's fundamentally vulnerable to common bio-chemical attack and the monomers aren't toxic. That's not the stuff that's causing issues, I think.
I would accept "Can be depolymerized, and absorbed by the biosphere or water table or bonded to alkaline rock, when suspended in normal soil in a temperate climate in less than 100 years" as a victory here.
> They’re biodegradable in an industrial composter, and similar conditions are incredibly unlikely in nature. So they are, effectively, not biodegradable.
Just like every plastic marketed as biodegradable. I feel like most of the "biodegradable"/"eco-friendly" products rushed to the markets in the wake of stricter regulations are worse for the environment since they either require significantly more resources (especially water) to produce, extremely complicated special setups to dispose of, or even both.
Would think it's trivial to make those from cellulose or something, but I guess it's always about money. Most "biodegradable" plastics are just turned into smaller pieces of plastic by UV.
In the case of BBs they need to withstand a fair bit of force, so I don't think it's about money. The biodegradable ones (PLA) on the market I've tried perform less well than their non-biodegradable alternatives and can shatter on impact, cause jams, etc.
I doubt you could make a hard enough cellulose pellet, maybe it's possible but costly, idk.
