The quality of being able to be broken down by living organisms into natural substances without harming the environment.
From biodegradable (bio- 'living' + degrade 'break down') plus -ity (quality noun suffix). Emerged in 1960s-70s as environmental awareness grew and scientists studied what happens to trash.
Paper is biodegradable because bacteria and fungi love eating it, but plastic sits in landfills for 400+ years because nothing in nature evolved to break it down—until scientists recently discovered a bacteria that can eat some plastics.
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