Compostability label

Wemterra blown films are starch-based biodegradable and compostable materials. They are certified in accordance with DIN V 54900 (Germany) OK Compost and VGS-Tabel (including OK-Compost-Label, Belgium). Wenterra film is used for manufacture of bio-waste disposal bags and sacks. 

OK Compost Label Given to Biodegradable Bag, BioCycle, July 1996, p. 18. 

Products that fulfil the requirements Products that satisfied the BPI-USCC compost label requirements inclirde starch-based blends (Novamorrt SPA. Mater Bi ), aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters (Eastman Eastar Bio , BASF Ecoflex), pofylactic acid (Cargill Dow PLA NatureWorks " ), starch and polylactic blends (Cereplast CereplasU. ... 

An important driving force for the development of biodegradable materials and the related compostability label is the recently adopted European Directive 94/62/EC on packaging waste where composting of packaging waste is considered a form of material recycling. 

The OK Compost label has played an important role in the development of the market for compostable biowaste collection bags, which is now well established in Belgium (several million bags sold per year). The biowaste collection bags are now state-of-the-art technology and functionality and true compostability has been proven. 

Product certification guarantees that it is not only the plastic that is compostable, but also all other components of the product, such as colors, labels, glues, and-in the case of packaging products-residuals of the content. The protected compostability label (or seedling ) may only be used for certified products. Both the logo and the number of the certificate printed on the product allow identification of the producer and confirmation of conformity the product that has been tested and the marketed one must coincide. 

Hartlieb N, Ertunc T, Schaeffer A, Klein W (2003) Mineralization, metabolism and formation of non-extractable residues of 14C-labelled organic contaminants during pilot-scale composting of municipal biowaste. Environ Pollut 126 83-91... 

A good image for compost can be built up with assured quality and a quality label. Germany, Denmark, the Netherland, and Belgium have developed a composting system which is very important for the quality assurance. Elements of the quality assurance system are quality assurance of European composting and digestion plants (in ECN 2008) ... 

Commercial bagged compost Variable fertility check labels. Dig in or mulch. 

In 2005, the four leading European biodegradable plastics material suppliers BASF, Nature Works, Novamont and Rodenburg Polymers, have also agreed to submit their packaging materials and products for certification by Din Certco under EN 13432, and label their packaging products with the compostability logo to better inform consumers and retailers. 

Plastic Suppliers Inc., a US extruder of blown film for labels and envelopes, has produced the world s first blown film from NatureWorks PLA. It was hitherto thought that PLA was unsuitable for blown film extrusion. Plastic Supplies claims that its EarthFirst film is 100% compostable, has high gloss, optimum clarity and transparency, high moisture vapour transmission rate, flavour retention, odour barrier, is breathable and is US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliant. Areas of application for EarthFirst include window carton film for food packaging, label film, floral wrap film, shrink film and envelope film. 

The bottle label is also compostable but the cap is not at the moment. BIOTA is currently researching biodegradable options for the cap. 

In November 2004, Treofan introduced labels made from Biophan for beverages and consumer products. The Biophan labels can be used in combination with bottles produced by NatureWorks PLA so that the labels may be composted together with the bottle in an industrial composting plant. 

Benoit and Barriuso (1997) carried out experiments to study the transformation of C-ring-labeled 2,4-D, 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) and 2,4-dichlorophenol (4-DCP) during straw composting under controlled laboratory conditions. Incubation under sterile and nonsterile conditions was done to evaluate the relative importance of the biotic and abiotic processes. Precomposted straw was treated with three chemicals and the availability of the different chemicals was monitored during incubations as well as their degradation. Under nonsterile conditions, Benoit and Barriuso (1997) observed that the mineralization of both chlorophenols reached 20% of the applied... 

Soak seed in compost tea for 25 minutes before planting to help prevent disease and speed germination. Treat seed with an inocu-lant labeled for the type of bean you are planting before sowing to promote nitrogen fixation. Be sure to buy fresh inoculant each year, or check the date on the package for viability. 

These test metho ds, and especially liquid medium tests, are considered as accelerated tests and do not necessarily correlate with the real exposition conditions of biodegradable plastics. Most representative tests are compost tests but they are more difficult to set up (especially when they use labeled material). It is necessary to assess the representativeness of these tests, especially liquid medium ones, in real-life conditions. 

At Home Depot stores, old pallets are backhauled by trucking companies to Advanced Pallet Recyclers (APR) ([73]). APR collects, shreds, and composts the pallets, creating two products—Enviro Mulch 2000 and Root Mulch. These brands are sold in Home Depot stores in bags marked with the environmentally friendly label. 

The same applies to other resins snch as PLA (compostable plastic), vinyl alcohol copolymers (barrier layer and cap sealer), and poly(ethylene naphthenate) (used for additional barrier properties). These do not disperse well in the PET or HDPE base resins and can degrade the quality of the recycled resin (BoUn and Smith, 2011). Dark colors, any metal layers, adhesives not removed by water, non-plastic labels, and thermoset caps make it more difficult for PET to be recycled into a high-grade product. 

In recent years, there has been some tendency to stay away from terms like biodegradable that are fraught with uncertainty in meaning. Rather, plastics may he labeled compostable if they meet requirements set by national or international standards for this designation. Any material that is compostable is almost always biodegradable, but the reverse is not necessarily the case. 

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