Compostable and Biodegradable Terms Defined

ASTM International (ASTM), originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services.

A group of scientists and engineers, led by Charles Benjamin Dudley formed the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)in 1898 to address the frequent rail breaks plaguing the fast-growing railroad industry. The group developed a standard for the steel used to fabricate rails.(1)

BPI or Biodegradable Products Institute is an organization designed to certify and identify products that will biodegrade and compost satisfactorily in actively managed compost facilities.

Welcome to the BPI Logo Program designed to certify and identify plastic products that will biodegrade and compost satisfactorily in actively managed compost facilities.

The Biodegradable Products Institute and US Composting Council (USCC) use American Society for Testing and Materials Specifications (ASTM) to approve products for their “Compostable Logo” effort. These specifications are the result of 8 years of intensive work by researchers, product manufacturers, composters, and resin producers to identify plastic and paper products, which disintegrate and biodegrade completely and safely when composted in a municipal or commercial facility, like kraft paper, yard trimmings and food scraps.

The "Compostable Logo" is awarded to any products meeting ASTM D6400 or D6868, based on testing in approved independent laboratories.(2)

All compostable plates and compostable cups, will eventually biodegrade if placed into a landfill, but this process will take longer as most modern landfills, unlike commercially run composting facilities, are designed to be moisture free.