Bioplastics

Certified compostability

What is a compostable packaging?

European standards (UNI EN 13432:2002 and UNI EN 14995:2007) define the characteristics that a type of packaging or product must possess in order to be described as ‘compostable’.

 


These standards are a point of reference for producers of biodegradable and compostable materials, public authorities, composters and consumers because they help to identify virtuous products in accordance with the regulations, which can legitimately claim to be both 'biodegradable' and 'compostable' and can therefore be recycled together with household food waste. 

 


What does compostable mean?
According to UNI EN 13432, biodegradable and compostable packaging must have the following characteristics in order to be collected and recycled together with household food waste.

Characteristics

  • Biodegradability

    The capacity of a compostable material to be converted into CO2 (carbon dioxide) by the action of microorganisms.

  • Disintegrability

    Namely fragmentation and invisibility in the final compost.

  • Absence of negative effects

    No effects on the composting process and the quality of the compost. 

     

  • Low levels of substances and metals

    Low levels of heavy metals and fluorinated compounds. 

  • Other chemical and physical parameters

    Absence of ecotoxic effects on plants.

Environment labels

Choose carefully what to put in the wet waste

DIN Geprüft

Offered by DIN CERTCO, an accredited certification body of the TÜV Rheinland group.

OK Compost

Issued by the TÜV AUSTRIA Group, a leader in tailor-made services in the field of testing, inspection, certification and training, also thanks to the acquisition of the Vinçotte nv.

Compostabile CIC

Developed by CIC in collaboration with Certiquality. The Italian Composting Consortium is a non-profit organization that promotes and enhances the recycling activities of the urban fraction of waste by-products.

Difference between biodegradable and compostable

Each of these requirements must be met simultaneously for a material to be defined as compostable. For example, a biodegradable material is not necessarily compostable. For a better definition of what compostable means, we can say that a material is compostable if it disintegrates during a composting cycle within the time frame referred to in standard EN 13432. 

 


To make them easier to identify, all bioplastic packaging must bear a mark certifying its compostability, a sustainable packaging certification, in accordance with the standard.

 

In Italy, several bodies issue the certifications associated with compostability marks. The various marks are shown below. The inclusion of one of these symbols on bioplastic materials confirms they possess the legal requirements for biodegradability and compostability.

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