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Compostable Products Go Mainstream

BioCycle July 2009, Vol. 50, No. 7, p. 25

The market for compostable products is expanding, due in part to a growing compostinginfrastructure. Part I

Rhodes Yepsen

SINCE BioCycle‘s Compostable Products Update two years ago, dozens of newmanufacturers have come onto the scene, joining companies who have been expandingtheir product lines and production volumes. In North America, the Biodegradable ProductsInstitute (BPI) remains the focal point for tracking the action, with its vetted logodesignating products that meet ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) requirements forcompostability. “The shear growth in number of BPI program participants not only shows the breadth of thecompostable products industry, it also correlates to overall growth within the area of organics diversion,”says Steven Mojo, Executive Director of BPI. “For instance, findacomposter.com, BioCycle‘s free searchabledatabase, mirrors this trend of growth in compostable products, with more facilities popping up across theU.S. and Canada.”

With major companies like Solo Cup, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart (in Canada), Whole Foods, International Paper,Glad and Dixie Cup offering branded compostable products, there is overwhelming evidence that thismarketplace has gone mainstream. Manufacturers, consumers and composters are also paying moreattention to whether the products are actually compostable, seeking out the BPI logo. “The compostingindustry increasingly understands that BPI-approved products will compost appropriately, and that productswith faulty claims stand out on the screens at the end,” says Mojo. “This is coupled with legislation inCalifornia and Minnesota allowing ASTM D6400 compliant compostable bags in municipal programs instead ofordinary plastic bags. And a number of major retailers like Wal-Mart and Shopper’s Drug Mart in Canada andWhole Foods are utilizing BPI-approved compostable products for their store brand, showing that a broaderrange of customers are paying attention.”

BPI’s website (bpiworld.org) currently features 25 bag manufacturers, 27 companies making foodserviceitems and packaging films, and 19 resin manufacturers. To put this in perspective, BioCycle’s July 2007 articleon compostable products reported 12 bag manufacturers and 12 companies making foodservice products andfilm.

BioCycle contacted all of the companies making BPI certified compostable bags and foodservice products, anda handful of the resin manufacturers to obtain information for this article. Those who responded to our inquirydiscussed new products, the expansion of the composting infrastructure, customer concerns about price, theimportance of education, public confusion over biodegradable vs. compostable, and recent legislation. Part Iof this article is an industry profile of North American compostable products, based on those responses. PartII will discuss how compostable products fit into models of sustainable packaging and Extended ProducerResponsibility (EPR), and will include detailed interviews with resin manufacturers and internationalcompostable product companies. All products described in Part 1 as compostable are BPI certified, unlessotherwise noted.

NEW PRODUCTS“At the National Restaurant Association Show this year, nine organizationsin foodservice were showcasing new products using Ingeo™, our brand ofPLA [polylactic acid],” says Brian Glasbrenner, Americas Business Directorfor NatureWorks, a company owned by Cargill. “This included innovationsfor the industry, such as the EcoProducts compostable hot cup lid andInternational Paper’s ecotainer cold cup, as well as new brands like theDixie Cup from Georgia Pacific and products with a design emphasis, suchas Innoware’s two-color clamshell packaging.”

When International Paper (IP) launched its ecotainer cold cup, itsimultaneously announced that it had sold over one billion ecotainer hotcups and containers since the brand’s market entry. “The one billionthecotainer is a milestone for the compostable products industry, and showsthe type of reliability that IP brings to the marketplace,” says Bruce Thoman, Director of Foodservice Product

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Development at IP. “Only after developing the ecotainer hot cup did we move on to the cold cup. Ingeo PLAseals, forms and flows differently than the polyethylene we’ve used for years, and there’s no textbook onhow to use it, so there has been a huge learning curve for adapting our equipment and methods. Theecotainer cold cup was challenging because it’s a paper cup with PLA lining on both the inside and outside,for condensation. We also had to develop technology for printing on this surface, which in itself took almost ayear to figure out.”

The ecotainer cold cup was introduced in partnership with Coca-Cola as part of a pilot project at theUniversity of Washington in Seattle. Coke is now working to roll out the cup nationally. “The largest portion ofthe waste stream at foodservice establishments is organic, totaling 70 percent or more, and we’re looking athow to support our customers in managing that waste responsibly,” says April Crow, Global SustainablePackaging Manager for the Coca-Cola Company. “Previously, there were limitations with performance forcompostable products, but now there are more solutions in the marketplace. We provided a compostableclear cup for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and now we have the ecotainer cold cup – papercups are the predominant cup in the foodservice industry, so this is a huge step forward.”

Asean, a newcomer to BPI, manufactures compostable products under three brands, and does private labelproducts as well. Its Stalkmarket brand offers cups, plates, bowls and takeout containers made fromsugarcane bagasse, using preconsumer waste. “A growing number of national retailers are carrying thisproduct line under a private label program,” says Buzz Chandler, President of Asean.

Asean’s Jaya brand offers cutlery, clear cups and straws. “Our products change as new technologies andresin grades are developed,” explains Chandler. “For instance, we announced new fully compostable Ingeocutlery at the National Restaurant Association Show this spring, which is actually made using waste materialfrom our new compostable hot cup lid. The PLA cutlery is heat resistant and compostable, and replaces ourprevious plant starch material (PSM) cutlery.”

EcoProducts is not a new company, but has become more prominent in the last few years, manufacturing itsown brand of compostable products. “We were founded in 1990 to distribute recycled office products,eventually branching into other green items, and in 2005 we offered our first branded product, a green-striped compostable cold cup,” says Luke Vernon, Chief Operating Officer of EcoProducts. “Eventually wephased out selling our competitors’ products. Most recently we introduced a compostable hot cup lid,completing our cup and sleeve offering.”

Nature Friendly Products now carries over 200 compostable items,including IP’s ecotainer cup, and its own line of sugarcane plates, bowls,cups, trays and take-out containers, which are currently going through BPIcertification. “Everywhere that there are disposable foodservice products,customers are looking for green alternatives and finding compostablesolutions,” says Bill Biggar, Managing Partner for Nature Friendly Products.“This is the first time that we have several factors in play at the sametime: a strong awareness and demand for compostable products, thecomposting infrastructure is coming into place, and there’s an economicvalue for diverting organic waste. Now that these segments are lined up,things are taking off!”

Innoware manufactures compostabletakeout containers under the brand Eco—Return to Nature™, which have traditionally been two-piece containers.“One of our newest innovations is a hinged Octaview® clamshell that iscoextruded with two colors,” says Hanna Sjolund of Innoware, Inc. “It hasa crystal clear lid, which contrasts with the tan base, highlighting the foodinside. Our containers also convey an upscale image – we have been mostsuccessful in restaurant segments willing to pay a slight premium for aproduct with a clean and attractive design. The color scheme offers avisual clue to the consumer that the product is earth friendly, and makes iteasily identifiable for the composting facility.”

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Northern Technologies, which manufactures Natur-Teccompostable bags, has expanded its product line to include itemssuch as cutlery, films and foam for packaging. “We have beendoing a lot of product development over the past two years,taking a base technology and targeting new segments,” saysVineet Dalal, Vice-President & Director of Global MarketDevelopment, Northern Technologies International Corporation.“We have been looking to continually increase the biocontent inour products, and are working with some large consumer goodscompanies to incorporate our film into their packaging, such as forchocolates and candies. However, these applications require a lotof R&D to meet specific properties for shelf life, etc., and take awhile to commercialize.”

As compostable products become more mainstream, companies arechanging marketing and advertising strategies to showcase this end-of-lifebenefit. Chinet, for instance, updated its retail packaging and logo earlythis year, essentially taking information from the back of the package andhighlighting it on the front. “We’re strengthening our communication aboutthe environmental benefits of Chinet products, but the productsthemselves have not changed – they were already compostable, and hadbeen BPI-certified within our commercial food service division,” says EricHappell, Director of Huhtamaki’s U.S. Retail Business for fiber products.“Chinet paper plates have been made in the U.S. since the 1930s. Weswitched to 100 percent recycled content in the 1970s, because it wasmore efficient, less expensive, and ultimately it was more environmentallyfriendly. We use by-product preconsumer paper from the milk carton andfrozen food industries.”

Solo Cup entered the compostable products industry, marketedunder its Bare™ by Solo® brand. “The Bare product line waslaunched in the spring of 2008, with a number of new productsadded to both the retail and commercial offerings in 2009,” saysAngie Gorman, Director of Communications for Solo Cup Company.“We introduced a PLA-coated paper hot cup in the fall of 2008using Ingeo, and have since expanded our compostable offeringswith compostable sugarcane plates and bowls, and an oatmeal-colored modified PLA cold cup and treated wax cold cups.”

The Bare product line is not all compostable however, includingfoodservice ware that is made from renewable and recycledcontent such as recycled PET (RPET) cups and post-consumer fiberhot cups. “It’s very clear to us that sustainability is a lifestyle

choice that more people are making, and a trend we need to be a part of,” explains Gorman. “We havecompostable products as well as options made from renewable materials and recycled content materialsbecause we believe options are important to our customers. For communities across the country that don’thave composting facilities, recycling is still the best option.”

BAGS AND BEYONDCompostable bags are still the backbone of many municipal organics collection programs, helping residentsdeal with potentially messy food scraps in their kitchen, while reducing problematic plastic film at compostingfacilities. Several companies specialize in manufacturing compostable bags, which are finding new consumeruses.

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BioBag USA now offers about 25 different bags, as well as agricultural filmcalled BioAgri. “We’ve found that cart manufacturers are like car dealers,constantly changing designs, so we offer a wide range of sizes,” saysDave Williams, President of BIOgroup USA, Inc., which makes the BioBag.“Doggie bags, which we introduced in 2002 for cities to purchase for theirdog parks, have become very popular. They are now available in retailpackages at major outlets like Petco.”

BioBag recently introduced compostable produce bags on a roll for use insupermarkets, which offer additional benefits over their conventionalcounterparts. “Customers take produce home and store it in theirrefrigerators, and due to Novamont’s Mater-Bi resin, our bag breathes,”says Williams. “Once the produce is eaten, the bag can be reused forcollecting compostable waste.”

Another application where compostable bags are being used for a dualpurpose is at King County (Washington) Library. “The Library systempurchased 350,000 of our new T-shirt style compostable bags, introducedthis year, which people can use to carry checked out books home,” saysSteve Friese of Indaco Manufacturing USA, which makes Bag-To-Naturebrand compostable bags. “The bag will then have a second use in thekitchen, collecting food scraps for King County’s residential organicsprogram.”

Cortec introduced several new films, including a compostable film that is45 percent renewable content, and updated its existing films. “We are moving ‘beyond the bag,’ so to speak,in relation to our R&D,” says Bob Boyle, Global Account Director of Cortec Corporation. “For instance, Bio-Cushion™ is an inflatable void filling system for shipping and packaging, using compostable film. Also, a lot ofour new requests are coming from food service and hospitality, driven by company directives rather thanmunicipalities.”

Plastics Solutions now offers a kitchen collector, along with anappropriately sized EcoSafe compostable liner. “This provides an easy wayfor households to start collecting food scraps, with a tidy package,” saysDick Freeman of Plastics Solutions, Inc.

El-En Packaging introduced a BPIcertified compostable bag last summerwith the brand name Quikki, using BASFEcoflex. “We’ve been manufacturinggarbage bags for 40 years, and beganresearching a compostable bag due tocustomer requests and marketdemand,” says Cheryl Babcock of El-EnPackaging Company, Ltd. “In Canada,the compostable bag industry is driven purely by municipal organicprograms, and there has been steady growth over the past five years.Legislation is important, because when compostable bags are optional,consumers are less inclined to use them, due to the added cost.”

Farnell Packaging also uses Ecoflex resin for its lines of compostable bags, marketed under the brand namesBioTrue and Big Boy. “Consumer demand for compostable bags and packaging is up, whether seen at zerowaste events or with customers introducing new lines of compostable packaging,” says David Stanfield, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for Farnell Packaging Ltd. “We are continuously improving our compostablefilm products, and are now selling to a larger market – what was once primarily municipalities now involveshospitals, schools, consumer product companies, etc.”

24/7 EDUCATION MODEEducation is an important facet of all organics diversion programs, to ensure that participants know what iscompostable and how to properly sort. “BPI works with communities on educational materials for residents,such as signs and brochures typically put together when launching a new organics program, or expanding it

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to include compostable products,” says Mojo of BPI.

“Even though awareness has increased, we’re still not at the level seen inEurope,” says Bob Findlen, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing forTelles, which manufactures Mirel, a compostable resin, through a jointpartnership between Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland. “Those whoknow about composting understand the importance of diverting wastefrom landfills, and all of the benefits, but most people in the U.S. still don’tunderstand composting. We still spend a lot of time on education andawareness about composting, biodegradation, and options for wastediversion, setting the bar before we can talk about Mirel.”

Vernon of EcoProducts agrees: “Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t knowwhat compostabilty is. They get that there is a better solution thantraditionally used materials, but we are still on education mode all of thetime.”

Many companies are actively engaged with educating the public. For instance, Plastics Solutions offers a freeSource Separation Management Booklet. “When a company or jurisdiction needs help with waste audits, welink them with our network of professionals, and when they are trying to set up a successful diversionprogram, we offer the booklet,” says Freeman of Plastics Solutions.

“We are constantly going to trade shows and visiting cities that are interested in setting up diversionprograms,” says Williams of BioBag. “People want to learn about what is happening in other cities, and call usto hear about how our compostable bag fits into that process. There are plenty of success stories finally, withSeattle, San Francisco, Alameda County (California), etc. – now we know that residents will participate andthe programs will work, so we need to get more cities up to speed, with more composting facilitiesoperating.”

Adds Gorman of Solo Cup: “When customers ask us about our compostable products, we ask why they areinterested in that option, and if they understand the disposal options in the community where the productswill be used. Because the composting infrastructure is fairly limited in many parts of the country, we want tomake sure our customers get the benefit they are after.”

Education of composting facility managers is also an important facet. Although many compostable productsare easily identifiable, some are identical to their conventional plastic counterparts, and are viewed ascontamination by the composter. “The issue of identifying compostable film products versus conventionalplastic film is a major problem for many composting facilities, and thus their jurisdictions,” says Stanfield ofFarnell. “The route some have taken is to say no to all film bags, due to issues with processing a mixedstream of waste. We’ve been producing compostable films since the early 1990s, and it is an ongoingeducation.”

BIODEGRADABLE VS. COMPOSTABLEAlthough many new companies offering compostable products are following the rules by going through withASTM approval and BPI certification, some are falsely marketing their products. This often comes in the form ofcalling a product biodegradable without specifying where or how it will degrade. In early June, the FederalTrade Commission (FTC) announced action against Kmart, Tender and Dyna-E for some of their paperproducts marketed as biodegradable.

According to a FTC press release, the agency charged the retailers “with making deceptive andunsubstantiated biodegradability claims… Since 1992, the FTC’s ‘Green Guides’ have advised marketers thatunqualified biodegradable claims are acceptable only if they have scientific evidence that their product willcompletely decompose within a reasonably short period of time under customary methods of disposal.” Itexplains that the defendants’ products are usually disposed of in landfills, incinerators or recycling facilities,where it is impossible for them to biodegrade within a “reasonably short time.”

Added Michael Davis, an attorney with the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in an interview with the NewYork Times’ Green, Inc. blog, “We hope that these actions will serve as notice to these markets that anunqualified claim of biodegradability is probably false and cannot be substantiated … Maybe a piece ofproduce could be labeled biodegradable if it’s customarily disposed of through composting, but the statisticsshow that most household trash goes to landfills.”

Williams of BioBag thinks that the FTC action is necessary, and will be beneficial. “Everyone is calling theirproducts biodegradable, even when they are plastic garbage bags,” he says. “I think we are at the point

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where we need to avoid the word biodegradable all together, because it’s misleading to consumers andproblematic for composters.”

Chandler of Asean agrees. “We need more publicity about how biodegradability alone doesn’t meananything. Composters and suppliers of compostable products need to explain that when something goes to alandfill, it’s being sealed in a mummy’s tomb where nothing goes away.”

Notes Vernon Allen of Al-Pac, which makes compostable bags: “Thebiggest weakness for this industry is the general public’smisunderstanding of the differences between biodegradable andcompostable. When customers ask us, as manufacturers of compostableproducts, they assume we have a hidden agenda. Clearing up thismisunderstanding would lend a lot of credibility to the industry.”

PLASTIC BAG BANSIn May, the Governor of Minnesota signed a bill into law that bans use ofconventional plastic bags for curbside collection of organic waste in theTwin Cities area, and requires compostable bags to be certified by ASTM(see sidebar). Residents have the option of using paper bags or removingtheir plastic bags after dumping their yard waste.

“Mandating the use of compostable bags for organics collection will notonly ensure higher quality compost, by eliminating plastic contamination, but it will raise public awareness ofwhat composting means and how compostable products can be used as effective tools,” says Dalal ofNorthern Technologies, who worked with Minnesota Representative Paul Gardener on the bill.

In Canada, local government mandates appear to be driving use of compostable bags. “Most of the demandwe see in Canada has come from areas where it is mandated by municipal initiatives,” says Devin Sidhu ofAlte-Rego Corporation, which manufactures bags under the brand Compost-A-Bag.

These plastic bag bans are a step in the right direction, but they occasionally create kinks that need to beironed out. “Although the plastic bag ordinance in Minnesota was just signed by the governor, and won’t gointo effect until January 2010, some local haulers stopped accepting conventional plastic bags on theircollection routes already, to prepare their residential customers,” says Friese of Indaco. “However, thehaulers are charging $2.50/bag for curbside debagging, despite the fact that Bag-To-Nature compostablebags cost about 80 cents/bag, and are available all across the Twin Cities area.”

When plastic bag bans are already in effect, it can be difficult to work a compostable option into the program.“We try to get involved with municipalities looking to introduce compostable bags as part of curbside foodwaste and yard trimmings collection,” says Williams of BioBag. “Sometimes the municipalities’ contracts withhaulers already ban plastic bags, specifying paper or no bag. By adding the option of a compostable plasticbag, the contract may be opened up to rate increases, which then skews the original economics of theprogram.”

Other legislation impacting compostable products includes styrofoam bans, and San Francisco’sgroundbreaking mandatory source separation of residential food waste and recyclables. These aspects willbe addressed in the second installment of this article.

LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURELack of composting infrastructure is consistently listed as one of the main barriers to widespread adoption ofcompostable products – if there is no place to compost them, the products don’t fulfill their full purpose andvalue. “Although there are pockets across the country with composting infrastructure to handle food wasteand compostable products, it is not widespread, and this definitely limits which communities can usecompostable products as part of their zero waste solutions,” says Dalal of Northern Technologies. “We’ll seebroader adoption of compostable products in the marketplace as more facilities open to process them.”

To advance this, Dalal works with composting sites to see if they are willing to partner with food wastegenerators on diversion initiatives. “It’s a solution-at-a-time type of approach, and it’s a lot of hard work,” hesays. “This is another place where legislation could really help, with government encouragement for diversionof organic wastes from landfills. Although there is a federal BioPreferred program through the USDA, it isfocused more on using renewable resources, with compostability as secondary. An additional requirement ofcompostability would put more weight behind this movement.”

Some companies choose to highlight the front-end benefits of their products. “You have to be ready to

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answer customers’ questions about composting infrastructure, because 90 percent of the time the productsare not going to get diverted,” says Vernon of EcoProducts. “Although our selling strategy is first about end-of-life, we also have a campaign detailing other benefits about our biobased content. For instance, studieshave shown that Ingeo PLA takes less energy and produces less emissions to produce, compared topetroleum, meaning PLA products have a smaller environmental footprint.”

Canada is similar to the U.S., with composting infrastructure only in concentrated areas. “In western Canada,organics diversion programs just don’t exist – all garbage is created equal there,” says Babcock of El-EnPackaging. “Atlantic Canada is the biggest driving force right now for municipal programs.”

When curbside collection is not an option, there are other means of closing the loop with compostableproducts. For instance, Sunfare, located in both Los Angeles and Phoenix, provides home delivery diet mealsolutions, packaged in Innoware’s compostable takeout containers. “The meals arrive in our Expressions®line, which is a two piece container, because the caterer wanted customers to have a plate-like experience,”says Sjolund of Innoware. “The containers and leftovers are collected when the next day’s meals aredelivered, and hauled to a composting facility.”

Another solution to lack of curbside organics collection is on-site composting, whether with an in-vesselsystem at a corporate cafeteria, or in the backyard at a residential home. These on-site composting systemsare another possible avenue for handling the growing number of compostable products.

At the National Restaurant Association show this spring, Somat Company was awarded a 2009 KitchenInnovations Award for its eCorect Waste Reducer, a commercial unit that dehydrates food waste into a soilamendment-like material (see “A New Generation Of Commercial Disposers,” BioCycle July 2008). “TheeCorrect demonstrated to everyone at the show how a commercial food establishment can solve the problemof a municipality not offering food waste pickup,” says Chandler of Asean. “At least on the surface, machineslike this seem to be a great solution to the infrastructure issue, and should be able to quickly process moldedpulp compostable products, such as those made from sugarcane.”

Home composting may be the most viable option for some compostable products. “We conducted researchtrials about composting Chinet in backyard bins, and provide step-by-step guidance on our website forcomposting our products at home,” says Happell of Chinet.

To Shanon Boase, founder of EarthCycle Packaging, compostinginfrastructure is not seen as a limiting factor. “Our product is also homecompostable, along with the film made by Innovia, so it doesn’t rely on amunicipal composting system,” she says. “EarthCycle products can also berecycled in a paper stream. We advocate the compostability of our productbecause we support upcycling – the products are made from waste palmfiber, after harvesting the oil, and if composted they are upcycled again bycontributing to healthy soil.”

Earthcycle packaging can be found in the fresh produce sections of severallarge retailers, including Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Trader Joesand Publix. Boase says the main limiting factor for her company is supplyand production capacity. “We’re competing with the plastics industry,which has been around for 50 years, so we’re running to keep up. We areexpanding our existing facility and building new ones to increase production and service demand.”

Several companies listed the extra cost for compostable products as amore significant barrier than lack of composting capacity. “In my opinion,cost is the biggest factor hampering the growth of compostable products,”says Jeff Cole, Marketing Manager for Genpak, LLC, which sellscompostable products under its Harvest Collection brand. “Especially intoday’s economic environment, operators are skittish about converting toproducts that may cost them upwards of three times as much as theirconventional foodservice items.” That said, Cole still notes that the trendtowards compostable products is high. “This is evident from customercomments at shows, and the click through rate to our Harvest Collectionpage of our website, which currently commands the second highest trafficrate behind our home page.”

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MINNESOTA COMPOSTABLE BAG LAWMINNESOTA bolstered its ban on landfilling yard trimmings recently when the Governor signed into law a billthat forbids the use of conventional plastic bags for yard trimmings collection in the Twin Cities area. It alsorequires compostable bags to meet ASTM D6400 or be certified by an independent organization. We askedRepresentative Paul Gardner from the Minnesota, who introduced the bill, for some more details.

Q: Why did you propose the bill and spearhead this initiative?A: In the Twin Cities metro area, we have various requirements by counties and waste haulers on the use ofbags. We have a lot of subscription hauling in Minnesota, so a hauler who wants to require its customers touse a compostable bag can be undercut by a competitor who will take the plastic bags. A city-by-city orcounty-by-county approach hasn’t really worked to clean out plastic from the yard waste stream, so usinglegislation to require the use of compostable bags instead of a plastic bag was the most effective way toclean up our compost stream, lower costs for haulers and their customers (haulers pay a higher tip fee whenthey haul regular plastic bags), and add value to our organic waste.

Many haulers have switched to rolling carts for yard waste, whereas other waste generators use kraft paperbags. Both are fine under the legislation, as is the use of plastic bags to contain yard trimmings being takento a drop-off site as long as you take the bag with you after emptying it. As luck would have it, we have atleast three manufacturers of compostable film in Minnesota, and they were very helpful in explaining themerits of the bill to legislators.

Q: When does the law actually take effect?A: The bill passed and is now law. It kicks in starting January 1, 2010.

Q: Will residents/businesses be fined for using conventional bags for yard waste? Or how will it be enforced?A: There is no penalty for generators. But during the summer and fall, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agencyand the haulers will be working together on an educational strategy to make sure metro area residents knowwhat the requirements will be. However, part of this strategy will likely be that yard trimmings enclosed inplastic bags won’t get picked up. My hauler will pick it up but they will charge you a debagging fee for thedriver to cut the bag and empty its contents.

There is a civil penalty for manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers who sell “biodegradable” bags inMinnesota that do not meet an ASTM standard for compostability. We will be working with retailers so thatthey understand the difference between compostable ASTM 6400 bags and the substandard “biodegradable”or “oxo-degradable” bags before 2010.

Q: What are some of the community benefits of this initiative?A: It is likely that sales of the compostable bags will go up and create some competition that leads to lowerbag prices. The environmental and economic benefits are that we will have higher quality compost, which willresult in higher demand, which will result in higher finished compost prices and a demand for more organicfeedstock. That will make it easier for communities to start up new source separated organics collectionprograms in the Twin Cities.

Related Articles:Compostable Bag Law Takes Effect In MinnesotaUnderstanding Variables In Compostable Product TestingWhat’s What And Who’s Who In Compostable ProductsTackling The Compostables ConundrumGreening The Biocycle Conference

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