Not All Packaging is the Same – Here’s What You Need to Know
What is Compostable Packaging?
It’s made from plants. Compostable packaging is a plant-based alternative to conventional oil-based plastics. Instead of relying on fossil fuels, it’s made from renewable materials such as:
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Paper & Card – sourced from recycled fibres or sustainably managed forests.
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Sugarcane (Bagasse) – a by product of sugar production, lightweight yet sturdy.
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Palm Leaf – naturally shed leaves, pressed into durable packaging.
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Bioplastics like PLA (Polylactic Acid) – made from fermented plant starch (typically corn or sugarcane).
It’s designed to break down—but only in the right conditions.
All certified compostable packaging is designed to fully break down inside an industrial composting facility when collected with food waste, within 12 weeks.
While some compostable materials can be composted at home, PLA (Polylactic Acid) bioplastic requires high temperatures and specific conditions only found in industrial composting. If compostables aren’t sent to the right facility, they won’t break down properly.
It is NOT designed to break down in nature.
Compostable packaging won’t degrade in the ocean, rivers, or littered on the street. It can take years to break down. Compostables need the right collection and processing to return to the soil as compost.
That’s why capturing compostables at the source and sending them to the right facilities is crucial—so they actually deliver the environmental benefits they’re designed for.
Advantages of Compostable Packaging
A key advantage of compostable packaging is that it allows for the processing of packaging contaminated with food residue that is unsuitable for recycling. Such waste currently goes to incineration or landfill. Both the food residues and the packaging when buried in landfill, give off methane, a greenhouse gas that is 30 times more damaging than carbon dioxide, .
When compostable food packaging is collected alongside your food waste and properly composted, it reduces carbon emissions by diverting organic waste from landfill and incineration. In landfill, food waste and compostables break down anaerobically, producing methane—a greenhouse gas far more potent than COâ‚‚. By composting instead, these materials return valuable nutrients to the soil without releasing harmful emissions, supporting healthier soils and a more circular, low-carbon system.