The future of packaging, is it compostable?

Monday 04 March

Compostable packaging and products are hitting the shelves in ever-increasing numbers – but are they the panacea to New Zealand’s waste woes? Commercial composting facility operators in New Zealand think not.

Only eight commercial composting facilities currently accept compostable packaging, and this is unlikely to increase unless manufacturers and government provide a financial incentive to offset the inconvenience, extra infrastructure and resources required to accept and process these products = products that provide little to no nutrient value to compost.

“There are some products that should be compostable,” says Chris Purchas Chair of WasteMINZ Organic Materials Sector Group. “For example, small hard to remove food-related items that contaminate compost such as fruit stickers, tea and coffee bags, asparagus ties, and banana tape should be compostable”.
However, we are seeing more and more non-food related products with compostable packaging and that is problematic. We believe that packaging for janitorial products, cleaners, shampoos or items such as nappies and sanitary products should not be made out of compostable materials because they devalue compost through potential contamination and that can impact on organic certification for compost products that is an important part of the market for quality compost.

“As composters, we want to produce and sell a high-quality product because that is what our end markets demand. Agriculturalists and horticulturalists want the very best compost, which is free from contamination” says Mike Lord who oversees EnviroNZ’s Hampton Downs composting facility in the Waikato.
Composting facilities may also be unable to accept compostable packaging because of their resource consent conditions or the requirements to obtain organic certification for their compost. It is also increasingly difficult to tell at a glance the difference between compostable and non-compostable products and packaging making removing contamination a costly and time-consuming process.

Of the facilities that do accept compostable packaging, many have different acceptance criteria. Most take fibre-based packaging, such as that made from paper, bagasse (sugar cane pulp) and wood because those materials break down quickly in a variety of composting environments, but compostable plastics are a lot more challenging to process.

Composting experts stress that when it comes to packaging and service ware (plates knives and forks), businesses and consumers should follow the hierarchy of:

1. Prevention - eliminate any unnecessary packaging in the design process
2. Reuse - where possible make packaging reusable, resealable, refillable
3. Recycle – where possible make products recyclable using plastics with strong and economic end markets
4. Compost

For those considering switching to compostable packaging, composting experts say it is vital that:

1. packaging meets an international standard for commercial compostability
2. packaging is acceptable to the receiving composting facility
3. collection infrastructure exists to collect this packaging, and
4. compostable packaging is sorted and any contaminants are removed before transporting it to the composting facility.

New Zealand composters have released a position statement outlining their views on compostable packaging in more detail. The position statement can be viewed here:

https://www.wasteminz.org.nz/2019/03/position-statement-from-new-zealand-composters-on-compostable-packaging/

A list of the composting facilities in New Zealand which can accept compostable packaging and what they can accept can be viewed here.

https://www.wasteminz.org.nz/sector-groups/compost-nz/new-zealand-facilities-that-accept-compostable-packaging-and-food-serviceware/

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