Compostable Products Buying Guide

Using Compostable Products

Be prepared to label, educate and separate!

Deciding to use compostable products is great, but it’s also the easy part. The MUCH harder part is making sure that your compostable products don’t just end up in the landfill. And trust us, they will—unless you are willing to spend the extra effort. How can you make sure that people put the compostable products in the right place?

1. Provide separate bins that look distinct.
2. Place the bins in a waste station.
3. Label the bins clearly.
4. Tell people what goes where. Make an announcement.
5. Pick it out of the trash. No matter how good your educational efforts are, you wont’ be able to keep everything out of the trash, or the recycling. If you want use compostable products responsibly, you’ll need to spend a little time and energy.

Brands We Recommend

Green Mountain Compost recommends the following brands, specifically because they produce 100% compostable products and provide clear labeling and distinctions on their websites. The symbol (♣) indicates that they sell ONLY products that are certified compostable.

EcoProducts
Greenwave (♣)
Vegware (♣)
World Centric (♣)

Criteria for Recommendation

We recommend the brands above because they:

• Make or sell ONLY certified compostable products (indicated in the table by a ♣), and/or
• Clearly indicate which products are compostable and which are not compostable.

Where to Buy

These local retailers have all been notified of our requirements for compostable products. Please note that these retailers may also carry products that are NOT accepted at Green Mountain Compost. Feel free to make a suggestion for additions or corrections to this list.

Many other brands produce products that are BPI certified and/or clearly labeled as compostable and therefore are accepted for composting at Green Mountain Compost. If we are not recommending those brands here it is likely because they do NOT meet the specific criteria listed above.

Compostable Product Requirements

At Green Mountain Compost, our minimum requirement for compostability is that the product is either:

• Certified compostable by BPI (see logo), or
• Third-party tested to meet ASTM D6400 or ASTM D6868 standards for compostability.

Many specific food-service products meet our minimum requirements for acceptability. However, because of the amount of misinformation and misleading labeling around compostable products, it can be difficult to determine exactly what a product is made of, or what you can do with it.