New Packaging: Some US brands have tried using bags with a layer of polylactic acid, a corn-based biopolymer that can decompose in garden compost.

Fickle Consumers: The new bags were loud, and consumers rejected them.(34) Polylactic acid packaging crinkled at volumes as high as 95 decibels,(35) which “flies in the face of our desire for comfort,” a green industry journal observed. “We want the cool, compostable packaging, but we want it to sound, look and feel exactly like what we’re used to.”(36)