The BPI License Agreement requires all BPI-certified products (e.g., bags, cups, cutlery wrappers, forks, pouches) and their consumer-facing packaging (h consumer and market-facingi.e., packaging that’s visible at the point-of-sale) for BPI-certified products to display the BPI Certification Mark unless an exemption has been granted in writing.
The on-product portion of this requirement is particularly important to differentiate compostable products from their non-compostable counterparts and is the visual cue that consumers and end-users will use when determining whether or not to put an item into an organics/compost bin. Composters will use this same information to determine whether or not an item that they receive at their facility represents a contaminant to their operation. Without consistent labeling and identification efforts at the on-product level, it is nearly impossible for compostable products and packaging to be diverted from landfills and receive their appropriate end-of-life.
The BPI Certification Mark Usage Requirements provides overviews of current regulatory requirements for compostability messaging in the United States and Canada and shows examples of the BPI Certification Mark in use. BPI has different versions of the BPI Certification Mark available, but including all six of the following artwork elements is the recommended best practice for all BPI-certified products and their packaging:
Consumers, End-Users, Composters, and others use the BPI Certification Mark to determine whether finished items are compostable. Using it properly is essential to helping mitigate contamination from non-compostable products in organics streams. The following are examples of improper use of the BPI Certification Mark:
Use of the BPI Certification Mark may not meet the requirements to make claims of home compostability in all states in the United States. While BPI has successfully advocated for state laws to reference ASTM specifications for products claiming commercial compostability, BPI historically avoided policy discussions around home composability. In Maryland and California, this has resulted in home compostability requirements being linked to a single certification body, rather than to independent standards to which any organization can certify. In Maryland, MD Environment Code § 9-2102(b)2, established by House Bill 1389 in 2017, requires items labeled as “home compostable” to meet the OK compost HOME requirement adopted by Vincotte (which is now operated by TUV Austria). In California, section 42357(a)(4) of Assembly Bill 1201, adopted in 2021, states, "A product shall not be labeled with the term “home compostable” unless the manufacturer of that product holds OK compost HOME certification." BPI is working to have the French standard NF T 51-800 accepted in these two states to support claims of home compostability on the basis that it is equivalent to, and in some cases more restrictive than, OK Compost HOME certification. Nonetheless, licensees are responsible pursuant to the terms of the licensing agreement between licensee and BPI for ensuring their products are compliant with the requirements of markets where such products are sold.
