Durability and Cost

• Biodegradable cutlery costs more than the alternative and is less durable. A March 2008 story for the USDA's BioPreferred Program described the University of Washington's experience with biodegradable cutlery and other bio-plastic items. The university found bio-plastic cost more, although on balance it saw a net gain thanks to savings on trash hauling. Perhaps even more important, it found the plastic spoons and other cutlery tended to melt when exposed to hot drinks or foods for a couple minutes -- a distinct disadvantage from the students' point of view.
  
  

Manufacturing

• Manufacture of biodegradable cutlery can also pose special challenges. According to a Scientific American article from 2000, biodegradable plastics often cost more to produce than the non-biodegradable alternatives. Early attempts to manufacture biodegradable plastic items often failed to become profitable when companies could only find a niche market for the product. Although the price has dropped considerably, biodegradable plastic still costs more to produce in most cases and has yet to displace conventional plastics in major markets.
  
  

Trash

• You might choose to use biodegradable cutlery in the hopes that it will cut down on the amount of landfill space consumed by your trash. Realize, however, that biodegradable cutlery doesn't actually break down or biodegrade in landfills, owing to the lack of oxygen and sunlight. You can't throw biodegradable cutlery out with the rest of your trash if you want to achieve any environmental benefit, so it can create some extra hassle.
  
  

Disposal

• Unlike conventional plastics, biodegradable cutlery cannot currently be recycled; in fact, recycling facilities consider it a contaminant. Nor will it necessarily break down in your backyard compost heap. According to a 2006 article in Smithsonian Magazine, biodegradable plastics require special conditions to decompose, so they have to be processed by large composting facilities. Many consumers lack access to these kinds of facilities and thus have no environmentally-friendly way to dispose of their biodegradable cutlery.