Standards & schemes
CEN / ASTM International / Standards Australia; certification via TÜV Austria, DIN CERTCO, BPI
In brief
EN 13432 is the European benchmark for industrially compostable packaging, with ASTM D6400 (US) and AS 4736 (Australia) as close equivalents. To certify, a material must pass laboratory tests on four requirements: chemical characterisation (including heavy-metal limits), disintegration in industrial composting conditions, ultimate biodegradation, and absence of negative ecotoxic effects on the resulting compost. Certification is performed by bodies such as TÜV Austria (OK compost INDUSTRIAL), DIN CERTCO and BPI, whose logos carry the certificate number that regulators and courts treat as the claim's evidence. Two claim traps matter: industrial compostability is not home compostability (see AS 5810 / NF T51-800), and certified compostable products are only compostable where collection and processing infrastructure actually accepts them — several jurisdictions restrict compostable plastics from organics streams. Certification supports a claim only for the tested product under the named standard's conditions; it does not by itself guarantee access to composting infrastructure or validate broader "biodegradable" wording.
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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