I ask because I am researching cloth diapers. Some are made with polyester and others are made with cotton. Would a polyester diaper biodegrade in a landfill? (It would get thrown away eventually, after years of use)
It can biodegrade under certain conditions, such as the presence of oxygen.
It degrades very slowly. Any type of plastic takes a long time to degrade. Some types will never degrade under surface conditions. I don't think it really makes a big difference. The way I think of it is, Polyester is made from oil waste while cotton is made from cotton plant. Farmers destroy plains and forests to grow the cotton while the oil comes from a tank about 100sq feet around. So, with that in mind I would rather go with polyester and save a forest even though it takes a few decades longer to degrade.
