Industrially compostable products, certified according to the harmonised European standard EN 13432 for the organic recovery of packaging, contribute to efficient waste management and circular preservation of resources by:
- Supporting the separate collection of biowaste (collection of more valuable resources from the waste that represents the highest fraction of municipal waste); – Diverting biowaste from landfills into organic recycling;
- Diverting biowaste from incineration into organic recycling (biowaste often has a high moisture content and therefore complicates incineration, but furthers organic recycling);
- Diverting biowaste from mechanical recycling streams into organic recycling,
- Reducing contamination in the biowaste collection caused by misthrows of conventional, non-biodegradable plastics that often end up in the final compost product, thereby contaminating compost and polluting the environment;
- Providing additional bio-based raw materials for industrial purposes, such as the production of bio-based plastics or organic fertilisers; (1)
- Supporting biogas production in anaerobic digestion by increasing biowaste collection. (2)
With the entry into force of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation ((EU) 2025/40), the legislator confirmed that using compostable packaging for certain packaging applications is deemed to have a demonstrable environmental benefit.