To be compostable, a product must meet certain requirements. The ability to degrade in a short time and the organic origin of raw materials are some of the characteristics that a packaging must have to be recognized as such.
The key criterion for whether a product can be disposed of in the organic is whether it has the certifications. In this article, let’s find out what certifications attest to a product’s compostability and learn how to recognize them for more conscious recycling collection.
Certifications: witnesses for compostability
To know for sure whether a product is compostable, we can rely on certifications. The company TUV Austria is a benchmark in the field of product inspection and certification, and for compostable products it issues two different types of certifications:
- OK compost INDUSTRIAL: for packaging that is guaranteed to be biodegradable in an industrial composting facility.
- OK compost HOME: for products that are guaranteed to be biodegradable within a home compost bin.
Compostable packaging: the benefits
This type of packaging offers many environmentally friendly benefits, let’s find out some of them:
- transformation from packaging to a resource by converting packaging to organic compost.
- Decrease in CO2 emissions
- Non-toxicity of substances that are released into the compost.
Beneficial solution for companies and individuals
Companies can also benefit from compostable products. Making sustainable choices is important to take a stand and communicate your values to consumers.
Compostable packaging is also a win-win solution for the consumer. First, because they are environmentally friendly, and second, because they give the opportunity to dispose of the packages directly into the organic, along with any food residues. This promotes separate collection and reduces contamination within the wet waste.
Greenwashing: dangerous phenomenon
In order to claim that a product is conferrable in the workforce, it must be certified by accredited bodies according to UNI EN 13432.
It is not enough to state that the raw material is compostable in order to declare it as such. It is necessary to make sure that the finished product possesses the above-mentioned certifications so as not to encounter greenwashing phenomena that lead consumers to make an uninformed purchase.
Learn about our new FinTak compostable line for food packaging.
