The Biodegradable Products Institute is ramping up its push for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to publish an interim final rule on compost that could improve clarity on acceptable compost inputs across the United States.
The member organization recently sent a letter to the agency urging it to act related to an August 2023 petition from BPI. USDA did not act directly on that petition, which requested a revised regulatory definition of “compost feedstock.”
BPI’s February letter garnered dozens of supportive signatories. The list included associations such as Ameripen, the EPR Leadership Forum, the Foodservice Packaging Institute and the Consumer Brands Association. Producers in support included Georgia-Pacific, InnoPak, CJ Biomaterials, Atlantic Packaging and NatureWorks. Composters and haulers that signed on included Black Earth Compost, Veteran Compost, Garbage to Garden and Earth Matter.
Uncertainty is hurting the market for compostables, BPI says. “Current laws undermine the ability for companies to invest in the production of certified compostable products and food packaging,” the letter states.
The renewed push follows a January meeting of USDA’s National Organic Standards Board, when the group voted against adding synthetic compostable materials as compost feedstocks to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. That list in part stipulates which substances can be used in organic crops or processed organic products.
At the meeting, NOSB members suggested that individual substances, or broader classes with more restricted use patterns, could be evaluated in the future. But BPI suggested that’s not an efficient way to do things.
“Following NOSB’s guidance would require hundreds of National List petitions to be filed, leading to an excessive, expensive, and untenable situation reviewing ingredients in compostable products, even though they meet the ASTM compostability standards that are already in federal organic regulations,” BPI said in its letter.
BPI noted that USDA rulemaking would be preferable because it would “allow for a public comment period beyond the NOSB and create a robust administrative record.”
During the NOSB meeting, members relayed concerns shared by composters about compostable food service ware or packaging’s negative impact on compost quality. This is largely linked to consumer confusion stemming from lookalikes, such as a disposable compostable fork looking like a fossil fuel-derived plastic fork, which can lead to contamination.
But other composters are trying to support growth in compostables, despite the challenges they bring.
Marisa DeDominicis, co-founder and executive director at New York composter Earth Matter, said a more apt policy solution would be to ban single-use petroleum-based plastics. If compostables were the only single-use items allowed for disposable food service ware, for example, “then we wouldn’t have any lookalikes,” she said. “It just doesn't make sense to me why places like California who have mandated compost can't mandate that as well.”
In the meantime, while compostables don’t necessarily benefit composters, Earth Matter accepts such items and gets behind rules that promote utilization. “If you get away from having the compostable market, then what are we going to do?”
The attention to this issue comes as California plans for implementation of AB 1201 in mid-2027. That law called for any product labeled “compostable” to be an allowable agricultural organic input under the requirements of USDA’s National Organic Program. BPI said in January that in addition to pursuing USDA rulemaking on the matter, it would also support legislation in California that could remove the connection to NOP as a solution.
The recent BPI letter specifically calls out concerns in California. “We ask that USDA take action to stop the disruption created by California laws with unreasonable timelines, and outdated federal definitions of compost that negatively impact American businesses and agricultural interests in the bioeconomy, including cities that rely on compostable products for their composting programs,” it states.
BPI also aims to appeal to the federal government’s domestic manufacturing priorities. “Not only will rulemaking on this topic support and expand markets for America’s farmers and ranchers, it will also promote national security by reducing dependence on foreign inputs and will remove burdensome regulatory barriers to domestic manufacturing,” the letter to USDA states.
