Not all bio-based materials are biodegradable. Biodegradability depends on the types of packaging materials used and the specific packaging composition.
There are clear and strict standards on what packaging material can be labelled as biodegradable and disposed for example as biowaste or are home compostable. Many products by UPM Specialty Papers, for example, are certified as compostable.
What’s the difference between biodegradable and compostable packaging?
On a general level, these two mean pretty much the same thing: that microbes can break the material into organic matter.
When it comes to packaging requirements, compostability means that the material has to disintegrate into non-toxic, fertile compost within testing conditions that include a specific time period. Simply, the material must become something plants can use for growth, which is tested via cultivation experiments.
Compostable materials can be either industrially compostable or suitable for home composting. The main differences are the temperature needed and the time decomposing takes. Industrial composting is faster (6 months vs. 12 months) and is done at a higher temperature (58 °C). The higher temperature is used to reduce the duration required and relies on different microbes that perform at the elevated temperature conditions.
Several UPM Specialty Papers’ packaging and label papers are certified as being industrially and home compostable according to the European standard. A recent addition is the compostable label face papers for fruit and vegetable stickers.
