WAX Coating for Eco Bananas
- The wax is a food grade material that has been used for waxing cheese for many decades.
- The colours are derived from food dyes.
- Being a ‘paraffin’ it is inert and does not easily hold a film so will break up and become inert particulate matter after the banana skin has decomposed.
- Under perfect composting conditions, where high temperatures (60+) can be experienced the wax will soften or even melt into the compost and disperse even easier.
- The wax will biodegrade at the same rate as leaf litter when left to the sun. This work was carried out by TNO Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Netherlands, funded by the European Wax Federation (EWF), Brussels Belgium. The report is titled TNO Environmental and Energy Research (TNO- report R90/198b)Inherent Biodegradability of waxes.
- We have found from our own trail worm farm over the past years
- the worms are not harmed by the wax
- they do not digest the wax in its present form, other microbes found in healthy soil break it down it is then in turn worked by the worm.
- most compost binsto not have the right balance of micro & macro organisms to develop the microbial activity to break the wax down.
- I suggest to people if they are concerned to cut the wax tip off before placing the peel in the compost, place in the bin or leave on the surface of the garden exposed to the sun.
https://web.extension.illinois.edu/homecompost/science.cfm