Companies around the world have earned praise in recent weeks after announcing plans to switch to compostable straws and utensils in an effort to help curb waste.

Starbucks pledge last week was among the largest, with the coffee company estimating that it will remove more than a billion plastic straws annually from its stores beginning in 2020 by using compostable plastic or paper straws.

That may sound like a planetary victory, but unless there are more places to compost these materials, those measures wont have as large of an effect as many might think. Heres why.

The reality of compostable plastic may surprise you.

Compostable is not the same thing as biodegradable, meaning compostable plastic will not break down any faster than regular plastic unless it is disposed of in a proper commercial composter, Dylan de Thomas, vice president of Industry Collaboration for The Recycling Partnership , told HuffPost.