The content in these pages is designed to give current and prospective BPI members all of the information needed to navigate the certification process as efficiently as possible. There is a lot of information here, and it is worth setting aside the time to go through the pages in detail to make sure that no important details are missed.
BPI offers two compostability certifications. Commercial Only Certification certifies that items will break down in commercial compost facilities, while Commercial & Home Certification certifies that items will break down in both commercial compost facilities and in properly managed home compost bins.
These certifications are supported by two separate certification schemes, one for commercial compostability and one for home compostability. However, the BPI home certification program is built on top of commercial certification, so there are more similarities than differences between the two programs. The differences are centered around the different operating conditions and subsequent biological environments typically found in the two composting environments.
The differences include:
Eligibility criteria – Pet waste products are limited to Commercial Only Certification for use in Canada since backyard bins don’t typically get hot enough to kill the pathogens in pet waste.
Testing – Disintegration and biodegradation testing temperatures and timeframes differ between the two certifications. Disintegration testing is conducted at 58 +/-2° C for up to 84 days for commercial certification and at 25 +/-2° C for up to 180 days for home certification. Biodegradation testing is conducted at 58 +/-2° C for 6 months for commercial certification and at 25 +/-2° C for 12 months for home certification.
Regulated metals – there are some differences in allowable thresholds of regulated metals between the certifications, which can be seen here.
