Our metric provides an opportunity not only to compare materials in use but also to identify less environmentally impactful alternatives. CDA, PBAT, PBS, and PHA are championed by many as alternative, more sustainable, degradable plastics for making consumer products. Comparing MIs, disposable lids made of CDA or PHA could provide more than an order of magnitude better performance for environmental lifetime while being comparable in other categories (Figure ). PBAT and PBS were worse than current plastics for nearly all MIs (Figure ). This result underscores the idea that bio-based, biodegradable, or compostable plastics are not a panacea for addressing the environmental impacts of plastics. Instead, our results suggest that a more nuanced understanding is needed, whereby some biobased plastics are robust alternatives (i.e., CDA and PHA), and others appear to exacerbate the problem (i.e., PBAT and PBS).