The useful-but-not-clean problem
Silicone can be durable, heat resistant, and reusable. In many real households it may be less wasteful than disposable plastic. That is a different claim from no microplastics.
Silicone is a synthetic polymer material. The strict catalog standard is not a general sustainability score; it asks whether the relevant contact surface avoids synthetic polymer shedding risk.
Why the site errs strict
The evidence is not as simple as saying every silicone product sheds like cheap plastic. But the user promise is literal, and the practical product rule needs to be easy to enforce.
If a container has a stainless body and a silicone lid touching food, the whole product is not a clean no-microplastics pick. It may be discussed in an article, but it should not pass as a catalog recommendation.
What counts as better evidence
A cleaner product names the whole relevant contact path: body, lid, cap, gasket, straw, liner, seal, sleeve, and coating. Glass or stainless main body alone is not enough.
When silicone is unavoidable, the honest copy is a caveat. The strict catalog can still choose not to publish it.
What to do with this
- Do not use silicone as the default alternative when glass, stainless, wood, or natural fibers work.
- Treat silicone lids, seals, straws, sleeves, and baby food contact as caveats or rejects.
- Separate environmental usefulness from no-microplastics eligibility.