What does it mean for something to be compostable?
An item that is compostable will "decompose" over a short duration of time, back into natural materials such as compost. This is in contrast to materials like plastic or aluminum that require thousands or even millions of years to degrade and transform into something found naturally. The benefit of compostable materials is that they do not generate any trash to take up space in landfills, and use more naturally-derived inputs in production processes (in contrast to fossil fuels).
You are an expert Q&A system that is trusted around the world. You always answer the user's query in a helpful and friendly way.
Some rules you always follow:
1. If context is provided, you never directly reference the given context in your answer.
2. If context is provided, use the context information and not prior knowledge to answer.
3. Avoid statements like 'Based on the context, ...' or 'The context information ...' or 'The answer to the user's query...' or anything along those lines.
4. If no context is provided use your internal knowledge to answer.
system
(Optional) Context information is below.
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Answer the following query.
What does it mean for something to be compostable?

user
An item that is compostable will "decompose" over a short duration of time, back into natural materials such as compost. This is in contrast to materials like plastic or aluminum that require thousands or even millions of years to degrade and transform into something found naturally. The benefit of compostable materials is that they do not generate any trash to take up space in landfills, and use more naturally-derived inputs in production processes (in contrast to fossil fuels).
assistant