OK Compost Home
Overview
TÜV AUSTRIA’s OK Compost Home certification follows a variation of the European standard EN 13432.
Home composting systems are very different to industrial ones. Industrial composting facilities are able to process organic waste at high temperatures (typically 55°C or higher) that cannot be replicated in the home, thus accelerating the rate at which the waste decomposes. Therefore, just because something has been certified for the OK Compost Industrial standard, does not mean it will decompose in the same way in a home compost system.
The OK compost HOME certification programme does not explicitly refer to a specific standard but details all the technical requirements that a product must meet in order to obtain the certification. The requirements of the OK compost Home programme have served as the basis for the other home compost standards such as the Australasian ABA AS 5810 standard.
Certification requirements
In order to comply with OK Compost Home certification materials need to meet the following requirements:
– Minimum of 90% biodegradation of bioplastic materials within 12 months in compost.
– Minimum of 90% of bioplastic materials should disintegrate into less than 2mm pieces in compost within 6 months.
– Hazardous substances such as heavy metals should not be present above the maximum allowed levels.
– Bioplastic materials should contain more than 50 percent organic materials.
Frequently asked questions
Compostable materials are designed to be composted and unfortunately that means they cannot be mechanically recycled. Although commercial composting systems are not currently widely available on a kerbside basis this is changing rapidly and so too is the rate of home composting. For further reading please see our blog post on Composting vs Recycling.
This is a great question and the answer is nuanced. They don’t contain plastic as most people know it but they are made from bioplastic, which is technically a type of plastic. Swisspac has a range of bioplastics that are made using our compostable renewable Plantmade™ technology.
