BharatNotes Biodegradable
adjectiveUsage in a UPSC answer
A credible circular-economy strategy must move beyond cosmetic gestures and mandate genuinely biodegradable packaging, so that municipal waste streams decompose harmlessly rather than entombing landfills in microplastics for generations.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
biodegrade (v), biodegradation (n), biodegradability (n), non-biodegradable (adj), biodegraded (adj)
Root
Greek bios (life) → bio- + Latin dēgradāre (to reduce in rank) → degradable; compound formed in English, late 1950s.
Etymology
Formed within English by compounding bio- (from Greek bios, "life") + degradable (from Latin dēgradāre, "to reduce in rank"); first attested in the late 1950s.
Memory Hook
BIO (life) + DEGRADE (break down) + ABLE — "able to be broken down by living things." Picture microbes feasting on a banana peel until it vanishes into the soil.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
Capable of being broken down by microorganisms into water, carbon dioxide and biomass. The precision that earns marks is that biodegradability is conditional rather than absolute: it depends on oxygen, moisture, temperature and microbial population, and above all on time. A material that decomposes within weeks in an industrial composting facility may persist for years in a compacted landfill or in the sea, so the label alone guarantees nothing about the fate of the object. This is why the regulatory category that matters is compostable, which is certifiable against a defined standard, rather than biodegradable, which is not. Under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 the practical point is upstream: segregating biodegradable waste at source is what makes composting and biomethanation possible at all.
Don’t Confuse It With
Biodegradable means microorganisms can break the material down, but says nothing about how long that takes or under what conditions. Compostable is the stricter and certifiable claim, requiring decomposition within a defined period under composting conditions and leaving no toxic residue. Non-biodegradable means persistent, as with most conventional plastics, glass and metals. Bio-based describes where the raw material came from rather than what becomes of it, so a bio-based plastic need not be biodegradable at all.
Hindi Meaning
जैव निम्नीकरणीय (jaiv nimnīkaranīya); अजैव निम्नीकरणीय for non-biodegradable.
Common Questions
- What does biodegradable mean?
- Capable of being decomposed by living organisms, chiefly bacteria and fungi, into water, carbon dioxide and organic matter.
- Is biodegradable the same as compostable?
- No. Compostable is the stricter claim, requiring the material to break down within a defined period under composting conditions leaving no toxic residue, whereas biodegradable sets no time limit or conditions.
Seen in UPSC Question Papers
- Prelims 2022 — Pollution
- Prelims 2020 — Nano Technology
Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Biodegradable” — proof this word earns its place on your list.
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