Sustainability SPC: Can compostable packaging work?

While most of the packaging world is focused on improving packaging recycling rates, the U.S. EPA’s 2008 snapshot of our country’s municipal solid waste stream shows that organics dominate. A quarter of it is yard waste and food scraps, and approximately another third is made up of paper and wood. While the EPA estimates that just over half of all types of fiber-based packaging are recycled, a lot of organic materials, including packaging, are regularly sent to landfills where the material is lost and its eventual decomposition releases methane. Packagers can redirect those materials from a negative end-of-life fate to a beneficial one by designing compostable packaging.

It’s important to note that while composting is a beneficial end-of-life option for fiber-based packaging, recycling is usually considered the best and highest use of that fiber. The exception is for food- or beverage-soiled or waxed paper packaging, which is typically not accepted for recycling in paper mills. Alone or in combination with paper, compostable biopolymers are also often used to package food, but are not yet collected in large enough quantities to be recycled economically. Designing these types of packaging for collection and composting with food waste could solve the end-of-life problem for a large segment of packaging formerly destined only for the incinerator or the landfill.

Before we can determine if this is an effective solution, we must understand if compostable packaging is really accepted by composting facilities. Why is there a proliferation of individual-facility or regional standards on compostable packaging that makes compliance difficult? Does packaging that meets the ASTM or Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) standards get different treatment at composting facilities?

To answer these questions, embers of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) conducted a survey of industrial composting facilities across the U.S. Looking at a subset of 50 facilities, care was taken to include a range of geographic and climatic conditions, operating equipment, feedstock sources, state regulations, and markets for compost. The survey was conducted in spring 2010 and ultimately received responses from 40 facilities.

Overall, the responses were positive about compostable packaging: 90 percent of facilities surveyed actively accept compostable packaging, and 72.5 percent note that accepting compostable packaging allows them to increase their incoming food waste tonnages. Facilities were more likely to accept compostable packaging from commercial and institutional sources rather than residential. A few problems stood out, namely that compostable utensils do not break down quickly enough, and bags and film create litter at the site.

Moreover, 33 of the composting facilities said they would like to see a universally recognized compostability label for packaging, which would help composters quickly identify packaging at their facilities as compostable or contamination. It would also reduce consumer confusion during sorting, which would mean less contamination for both composting facilities and conventional plastic recycling streams. The BPI certification scheme and logo already are the labeling standard for North America, so future work with BPI, the packaging community, and composters could enhance its use and effectiveness.

Future research could address other issues raised in the survey,  such as the discrepancy between real-world conditions at composting facilities and ASTM lab tests. For instance, many composters indicate a shorter time frame for composting than that allowed by ASTM.  

More information on packaging at composting facilities can be found in the full SPC survey report available at www.sustainablepackaging.org.

This article was prepared by SPC Project Manager Liz Shoch; Recycling Consultant Rhodes Yepsen and GreenBlue Project Associate Heather Martin. For more information, email [email protected]


.