# Does PLA biodegrade, or does it just break down over time?

PolyLite PLA's heat-deflection temperature is 60 °C (140 °F) under a 0.45 MPa load and 58 °C (136 °F) under a 1.8 MPa load. That is a bending test, not compost. NatureWorks says Ingeo resin composts in municipal and industrial facilities that control heat, moisture, and air, after testing to ASTM D6400 and EN 13432. The same page gives no lifespan for a part on a shelf, in a landfill, or in a backyard pile.

PolyLite PLA's heat-deflection temperature is 60 °C (140 °F) under a 0.45 MPa load and 58 °C (136 °F) under a 1.8 MPa load. That is a bending test, not compost. NatureWorks says Ingeo resin composts in municipal and industrial facilities that control heat, moisture, and air, after testing to ASTM D6400 and EN 13432. The same page gives no lifespan for a part on a shelf, in a landfill, or in a backyard pile.

PLA can be composted as a resin in an industrial or municipal compost facility, on the terms NatureWorks publishes. That is not the same as a print rotting on a shelf, in a landfill, or in a backyard bin. [Old filament](/answers/old_filament), [PLA outdoors](/answers/pla_outdoor), [recycling](/answers/recycling), and [creep](/answers/pla_creep) cover brittleness, weather, scrap, and slow bending.
## What NatureWorks certifies

The [NatureWorks regulatory affairs page](https://natureworksllc.com/resources/regulatory-affairs), read 27 October 2026, says Ingeo is compostable in municipal and industrial facilities where available, and that it is suitable for industrial composting systems which regulate temperature, moisture, and aeration. In the United States, NatureWorks says compost testing was carried out to ASTM D6400 and that listed grades carry BPI certification as supplied from the factory. The grades named there for that certificate are 2003D, 2500HP, 3001D, 3052D, 3251D, 4032D, 4043D, and 4060D. In Europe, the same grade list is what NatureWorks places under its DIN CERTCO certificate to EN 13432.

The page says any later addition of additives or colorants has to pass the required tests. It also says a customer cannot use the BPI or Seedling logo on a product without certifying the end product. A spool of colored PLA is not automatically that resin grade. [PolyLite PLA](/brand/polymaker/polylite-pla), [Bambu PLA Basic](/brand/bambu-lab/pla-basic), and [Anycubic PLA](/brand/anycubic/pla-basic) do not store a compost logo in this catalog.

The page does not give a number of years, months, or days for a printed part indoors, in a landfill, or in a home pile. No lifespan is added here.
## Heat softening is a different measurement

PolyLite PLA's technical data sheet, checked 21 October 2026, lists a heat-deflection temperature of 60 °C (140 °F) at 0.45 MPa and 58 °C (136 °F) at 1.8 MPa, ISO 75. The lighter load is 0.45 MPa. The heavier load is 1.8 MPa. Vicat softening is 63 °C (145 °F), ISO 306. Glass transition is 61 °C (142 °F). Those temperatures say when a test bar bends or softens. They do not say when a part biodegrades.
## What the community says

[a Reddit thread in r/3Dprinting](https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/1afowey/) says PLA is only compostable in an industrial setting, at a specific pressure and temperature, and that marking a print as compostable would lead people to put it in a home composter or in household food waste.

[a Reddit thread in r/3Dprinting](https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/10uymj3/) says there are effectively no filaments available that are recyclable or biodegradable.

Updated 2026-10-27. Sources accessed 2026-10-27. Use case: PLA.

## Ranked filaments

| Rank | Filament | Nozzle | Bed | Price per kg |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Polymaker Polylite PLA | 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) | 25–60 °C (77–140 °F) | — |
| 2 | Bambu Lab PLA Basic | 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) | 35–45 °C (95–113 °F) | — |
| 3 | Anycubic PLA Basic | 190–230 °C (374–446 °F) | 55–65 °C (131–149 °F) | — |

## Sources

- [NatureWorks regulatory affairs, industrial composting](https://natureworksllc.com/resources/regulatory-affairs) (manufacturer)
- [PolyLite PLA technical data sheet V5.4](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0548/7299/7945/files/PolyLite_PLA_TDS_EN_V5.4.pdf) (datasheet)
- [Bambu PLA Basic technical data sheet](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0584/7236/6216/files/Bambu_PLA_Basic_Technical_Data_Sheet_bf3411ce-be39-4db7-9669-1b4671d2196b.pdf) (datasheet)
- [Anycubic PLA technical data sheet V3.0](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0698/1235/5357/files/ANYCUBIC_TDS_PLA_V3.0.pdf) (datasheet)
- [a Reddit thread in r/3Dprinting](https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/10uymj3/) (reddit)
- [a Reddit thread in r/3Dprinting](https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/1afowey/) (reddit)
- [a Reddit thread in r/3Dprinting](https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/11unx71/) (reddit)
- [a Reddit thread in r/3Dprinting](https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/189sbhv/) (reddit)
- [a Reddit thread in r/3Dprinting](https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/sabx15/) (reddit)

HTML: https://filamentfacts.com/answers/pla_degrade