non-biodegradable

IPA/ˌnɒn ˌbaɪəʊdɪˈɡreɪdəbl/
IPA/ˌnɑːn ˌbaɪəʊdɪˈɡreɪdəbl/

non-biodegradable — adjective

1. describing a material that bacteria and other tiny living things cannot break ap

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

describing a material that bacteria and other tiny living things cannot break apart, so it stays in the soil, water, or air for a very long time and can harm the environment

Example

Most plastic bags are non-biodegradable and may stay in the ocean for hundreds of years.

attributive: non-biodegradable + noun (bags)

Sivan refused to buy bottled water because the bottles are non-biodegradable.

predicative: be + non-biodegradable

Common collocations
  • non-biodegradable plastic / plastics
  • non-biodegradable waste
  • non-biodegradable packaging
  • non-biodegradable materials
  • non-biodegradable chemicals
Synonyms
  • non-decomposable

    technical near-synonym; rare outside scientific writing

  • non-compostable

    narrower — focuses on whether a material is suitable for composting bins, not on long-term environmental persistence

  • persistent

    scientific term for pollutants that stay in the environment; broader, used of chemicals and pesticides

Antonyms
  • biodegradable

    direct opposite — breaks down through bacterial action

  • compostable

    stronger positive — breaks down quickly enough for composting

Grammar Patterns

non-biodegradable + noun

be + non-biodegradable

Usage Note

Almost always modifies physical materials (plastics, foams, chemicals, packaging, waste). Subject of 'be non-biodegradable' is usually an inanimate substance — people and animals are never described this way.

Common Mistakes

This food is non-biodegradable in two days.
This food is not biodegradable, so it will take a long time to break down.
non-biodegradable means it essentially never breaks down naturally; don't pair it with a short time period.
Glass bottles are non-biodegradable but easy to recycle.
Glass bottles do not break down naturally, but they are easy to recycle.
strictly, glass is inert rather than non-biodegradable; reserve the word for things bacteria are expected to act on (plastics, organic-looking polymers).

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe materials that stick around in the environment, but they sit at different points on the scale. 'Non-biodegradable' is the everyday environmental term: it tells you bacteria and other tiny organisms cannot break the material apart, so it stays in soil or water for a very long time. 'Non-compostable' is narrower and more practical — it only means the material is not suitable for a composting bin; some compostable items still take months to break down outside the right conditions. 'Persistent' is the scientific label, used mostly of chemicals and pesticides that resist breakdown and build up in living things. 'Synthetic' simply means human-made and tells you nothing about how long the material lasts. So a plastic shopping bag is non-biodegradable, persistent, and synthetic, but a wooden spoon is none of those things even though it may be non-compostable in a city bin.

non-biodegradable ↗non-compostablepersistent ↗synthetic ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • non-biodegradable waste pile
  • non-biodegradable plastic bag

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

Built from the everyday prefix 'non-' (meaning 'not') and the scientific adjective 'biodegradable', which combines Greek 'bio-' (life) with Latin 'degradare' (to step down, lower). 'Biodegradable' itself entered English in the 1960s as the modern environmental movement looked for a word to describe what living organisms could and could not naturally recycle; 'non-biodegradable' followed almost immediately as its negative counterpart.