Are disposable plastic cups and plates in Europe biodegradable?

Question

I spent a couple of months in Italy, and was astonished, dumbfounded, and horrified to find that my hosts used TONS of plastic cups and plastic plates because they were too lazy to wash dishes--but what disgusted me was the fact that they recycled NOTHING. They did not recycle laundry detergent containers, milk bottles, or anything else for that matter. Here I was in Europe where I thought people were a little more progressive, intelligent, conscious of the environment...

They told me that it didn't matter because all of the plastic was biodegradable, that the government made it a law that manufactures made only biodegradable plastic. That seems impossible to me, and I think he was lying to shut me up. Was he lying, or am I grossly misinformed?

Answer 1

i dont know about italy, but in the UK only recently they have started to give us biodegradable bin bags and some shopping bags are too, but still mostly normal plastic.

Answer 2

i'm italian
all trash in italy is recycled, plastic, metals, glass, paper, etc. and according to EU regulations, plastic cups and plates in will be only biodegradable from the next year