Compostable materials are designed to be composted. Unfortunately, that means that they generally cannot be recycled and shouldn't go into a recycling stream. Although commercial composting systems are not widely available presently they are growing rapidly, so too is the rate of home composting. For further reading please visit our Resource Hub.

Unlike plastics, compostable materials are designed to have a shelf-life. They won't start spontaneously composting on the shelf or in your warehouse but over time things like sealing and lamination strength will start to deteriorate. In general, we recommend our compostable materials be used within 12-18 months depending on the product being filled as well as storage conditions. However this is influenced by atmospheric conditions like heat and humidity so in particularly hot and humid climates this is reduced. We recommend storing all compostable materials in dry climate controlled conditions as best practice to ensure best shelf-life of the packaging itself.

No, they don't. Our certified compostable materials undergo rigorous biodegradation and compostability testing to ensure that they completely breakdown into healthy organic matter.

Refer to a blog post on how to compost!

Composting timeframe depends on the exact conditions of the compost. Industrial or commercial composts run at higher temperatures and generally operate on a time frame of 2-3 months. Home composts are more variable and dependent on things like climate and how well they are managed. Home compost certification assumes the compost environment operates ~30°C and in order to achieve certification products must fully biodegrade within 12 months.