Standards & schemes
Standards Australia / AFNOR
In brief
AS 5810 (Australia) and NF T51-800 (France) are the reference standards for home compostable plastics. Where industrial-compostability standards such as EN 13432 test breakdown under the sustained high temperatures of commercial composting facilities, these standards test under the cooler, less controlled conditions of a backyard compost heap or worm farm. Certification requires disintegration and biodegradation testing plus ecotoxicity checks on the resulting compost — the material must not harm plant growth or soil organisms. In Australia, certification against AS 5810 underpins the Australasian Bioplastics Association's home compostable seedling logo; in France, NF T51-800 supports the "OK compost HOME"-style claims regulated under French anti-waste law. Because home and industrial compostability are frequently confused in marketing, the distinction these standards draw is claim-critical: a product certified to EN 13432 is not thereby home compostable. Certification supports a claim only for the tested product formulation under the named standard's conditions; it does not by itself guarantee breakdown in every home composting setup.
Conditional relationships
A relationship does not mean that the standard proves or validates every use of a claim.
Recognition & legal context
No reviewed law references are published.
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