To reduce the usage and pollution of plastic containers in the nursery industry, this experiment studies using the lifespan of degradable polylactic acid (PLA) containers for nursery production and the optimum condition of container degradation. The results showed that different storage methods did not significantly affect the use efficacy of nursery materials in the short term, but the ultimate tensile strength of nursery bags for long-term storage decreased and accelerated its degradable rate in the soil. Temperature and humidity both affected the degradable rate of polylactic acid nursery materials in the soil. The degradable rate when buried in the soil is the fastest under the conditions of high temperature and high humidity. In the insect feeding test, the decomposition rate is faster when the insect grows at a suitable temperature. The weight loss is as high as 27% after 14 days. The type of insect's mouthparts may affect the types of nursery materials that can be gnawed. In the future, high-protein feed insects for aquaculture, poultry or livestock can be evaluated to solve the waste disposal problem. The results will help the industry to improve the performance of degradable containers and achieve reductions of carbon emission and plastic waste. Finally, the study will benefit the nursery industry by adoption of the sustainable practices.

^y：ns,*,**,***：indicated nonsignificant or significant at p≦0.05, 0.01 or ＜0.001, respectively.

▲Fig.1. the polylactic acid containers (A)black polylactic
acid seedling bags and (B) white polylactic acid plugs
are gnawed by Zophobas morio.