The following forms are required for all sublicenses:
For sublicensees who are not BPI members, the following must be submitted:
If the sublicensee is interested in becoming a member, then they’ll need to submit the following forms in addition to the BPI Sublicense Product Worksheet:
Complete and signed paperwork should be submitted to the licensee’s Project Manager. If the licensee hasn’t been assigned a Product Manager yet, then paperwork can be submitted to certification@bpiworld.org. After submission, the licensee will be assigned to a Project Manager at BPI who will work with them and the sublicensee through the process.
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:
Before products are added to BPI’s database and listed in the online product catalog or executed sublicense agreements are issued, representative examples (BPI does not need to see every size in a product category if all of the artwork is the same) of product and packaging artwork must be submitted to BPI for confirmation that the artwork meets the requirements for use as outlined in the BPI License Agreement. Product and packaging artwork must be confirmed before the sublicensing process is complete. Once the Interim Reseller Agreement has been signed, BPI can provide watermarked versions of the BPI Certification Mark for preliminary design and review purposes. Once BPI has received all final paperwork and payments, the sublicensee will receive their official BPI Certification Mark, including the lock-up version of the BPI Certification Mark that is unique to the sublicensing company.
BPI also has general industry Guidelines for the Labeling and Identification of Compostable Products and Packaging that provides expanded recommendations and graphical examples for how to label compostable products beyond what is shown in the BPI Certification Mark Usage Requirements.
For more information on labeling, please visit the Labeling FAQ.
For questions about BPI’s artwork requirements and review process, please contact our Marketing Team.
Once the sublicense process is complete, a BPI Project Manager will send the following items to both the licensee and sublicensee for the sublicensed products:
A copy of the Sublicense Agreement that has been signed by BPI’s Certification Director. This is a good document to keep on file, as it references the terms of the agreement in place between BPI, the licensee, and sublicensee.
Unique versions of BPI’s Lock Up Certification Mark that incorporate the sublicensee’s Company Identification Number. This version of the BPI Certification Mark is the preferred version to use on sublicensed items and packaging because it includes disclaimer language required by the Federal Trade Commission in the United States and the Competition Bureau in Canada.
BPI’s Certification Mark is designed for on-product use where space is at a premium. This Mark includes the word “Compostable,” which means disclaimer language still must be used elsewhere in connection with the Mark.
For on-product labeling scenarios where the Certification Mark will not fit, BPI can provide alternative artwork that includes the BPI “swirl” (the core element of the BPI Certification Marks) and the words “BPI COMPOSTABLE.”
BPI-certified products are listed in a searchable catalog on BPI’s homepage. This catalog allows the public to search for and verify BPI-certified products. Product listings are populated with the information from the product worksheet and also appear on your Sublicense Agreement.
If the sublicensee is a BPI Member, then they’ll also receive their own certificate. This document is the best way to provide customers and other interested parties with evidence of BPI Certification. Resellers can use the second half of their sublicense agreement to show that their SKUs listed in Table A are manufactured by a BPI Member.
For BPI Members Only and Sent Only to Sublicensee
