What bioplastics standards and certifications cover
Bioplastics standards and certifications are formal frameworks that verify whether a material meets defined criteria for biodegradability, compostability or bio-based content. EN 13432, ASTM D6400 and the certification schemes run by TUV Austria give manufacturers a way to prove an environmental claim and give buyers a way to check it. Without them, “compostable” and “biodegradable” would stay unverifiable marketing language.
Standards do the work of turning a laboratory result into something a composting plant can rely on. As the bioplastics market continues to grow, that verification carries more weight, not less. What follows sets out the major international standards, the bodies that enforce them and what each label actually promises.
Why standards matter for bioplastics
Without standardized testing, any manufacturer could label a product “biodegradable” no matter how it behaves in soil, water or a composting facility. Standards fix the temperature, the timeframe and the disintegration threshold a material has to hit before it can claim a given classification.
Across the bioplastics industry that work supports five things at once:
- Buyers can trust that a certified product meets defined performance criteria instead of relying on vague marketing claims.
- Many jurisdictions now require compostability certification before a product can be sold as compostable or accepted into organic waste streams.
- Composting plant operators need assurance that incoming material will fully biodegrade inside their processing cycle.
- Retailers and brand owners increasingly demand third-party certification as a condition of purchase.
- Material developers get clear performance targets to design against during R&D.
Major international standards for compostability
A handful of standards govern testing for biodegradable and compostable bioplastics. Each came out of a particular regional or industrial context, and all of them rest on the same controlled biodegradation testing.
EN 13432, the European packaging standard
EN 13432 determines whether packaging is compostable in industrial facilities. Published by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), it is the harmonized standard under the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Passing it means satisfying all four criteria below, not three of four:
| Criterion | Requirement | Test Method |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical Composition | Heavy metals and fluorine below defined thresholds; volatile solids content above 50% | Chemical analysis per EN 13432 Annex A |
| Biodegradation | At least 90% conversion to CO₂ within 6 months under controlled composting conditions | ISO 14855 (CO₂ evolution method) |
| Disintegration | At least 90% of material passes through a 2 mm sieve after 12 weeks of composting | ISO 16929 (pilot-scale composting test) |
| Ecotoxicity | No negative effect on plant germination or biomass yield in compost-amended soil | OECD 208 (terrestrial plant test) |
EN 13432 is among the strictest compostability standards anywhere. It covers industrial composting only, at 58°C ± 2°C, and says nothing about home composting. Materials that pass can carry the Seedling logo, covered below.
ASTM D6400, the North American standard
ASTM D6400 is the specification for labeling plastics meant to be aerobically composted in municipal or industrial facilities. ASTM International publishes it, and it is the reference compostability standard in the United States and Canada.
It sets three performance thresholds:
- Biodegradation: 60% conversion to CO₂ within 180 days for homopolymers, or 90% for copolymers and blends, tested per ASTM D5338.
- Disintegration: less than 10% of the original dry weight remains on a 2 mm sieve after 12 weeks of composting.
- Ecotoxicity: no adverse effect on plant growth when compost containing the test material is compared with a control, at concentrations that match real composting.
ASTM D6400 and EN 13432 are broadly comparable, though their biodegradation thresholds and test protocols differ in detail. Products sold on both continents are normally tested against both.
ASTM D6868 for coatings and substrates
ASTM D6868 covers items where a biodegradable plastic coating or additive sits on a compostable substrate, such as a paper cup lined with PLA. The testing approach matches ASTM D6400; the difference is that it applies to composite products rather than standalone plastic items. That makes it the relevant standard for most multi-layer bioplastic packaging applications.
ISO 17088, the international equivalent
ISO 17088 specifies plastics suitable for recovery through aerobic composting. Published by the International Organization for Standardization, it aligns closely with both EN 13432 and ASTM D6400 and acts as the harmonizing layer between them. Many national standards are built on ISO 17088.
Certification bodies and logos
Standards say what a material must achieve. Certification bodies check that it does, through independent laboratory testing and repeat auditing, and issue the logos that end up on the product.
TUV Austria (formerly Vinçotte)
TUV Austria, which acquired the Belgian body Vinçotte, is among the most prominent bioplastics certifiers worldwide. Its schemes reach well past industrial composting:
| Certification | What It Verifies | Key Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| OK Compost INDUSTRIAL | Compostability in industrial composting plants | Based on EN 13432; temperatures ~58°C |
| OK Compost HOME | Compostability in home compost bins | Lower temperatures (~20–30°C); longer timeframe |
| OK Biodegradable SOIL | Biodegradation in natural soil | Relevant for agricultural films and mulch products |
| OK Biodegradable WATER | Biodegradation in freshwater environments | Tests conducted at ambient water temperatures |
| OK Biodegradable MARINE | Biodegradation in marine/saltwater environments | The most demanding biodegradation environment |
| OK Biobased | Bio-based carbon content of the product | Star rating system (1–4 stars based on % bio-based content) |
The gap between OK Compost INDUSTRIAL and OK Compost HOME is the one that trips people up. Industrial plants hold 55–60°C with controlled moisture and aeration. A garden heap runs cooler and swings with the weather. A material that breaks down dependably at 58°C can sit almost unchanged at 25°C, which is why OK Compost HOME applies tougher criteria for the less controlled setting.
OK Biobased measures something else entirely: the share of a product’s carbon that comes from renewable biological sources rather than fossil ones. It applies to bio-based polymers whether or not they biodegrade. Bio-based PET makes the point. It comes from renewable feedstock, it is chemically identical to conventional PET, and it does not biodegrade.
The Seedling logo (European Bioplastics / DIN CERTCO)
The Seedling logo is the most widely recognized mark for industrially compostable packaging in Europe. European Bioplastics administers it with DIN CERTCO, a TUV Rheinland subsidiary. It certifies independent testing against EN 13432.
A consumer or waste operator seeing the Seedling knows four things about the product:
- It will biodegrade by at least 90% within 6 months under industrial composting conditions.
- It will physically disintegrate within 12 weeks in a composting environment.
- The resulting compost will not be toxic to plants or the soil ecosystem.
- It does not contain harmful levels of heavy metals or other regulated substances.
Several European countries have built the Seedling into their waste labeling rules. In Italy, packaging carrying it is accepted in organic waste collection.
BPI certification (Biodegradable Products Institute)
The Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) is the main certifier of compostable products in North America, verifying compliance with ASTM D6400 or ASTM D6868. Certified products appear in a public searchable database, and keeping the certificate requires periodic re-testing and facility audits.
In practice BPI certification is now a precondition for selling a product as compostable in the US and Canada, and many composting facilities accept only items carrying the logo.
Standards for bio-based content
Bio-based content standards measure how much of a material comes from renewable biological resources rather than fossil-based sources. Bio-based content and biodegradability are separate properties: a product can be 100% bio-based and never biodegrade, or biodegrade completely while being made from fossil carbon.
ASTM D6866, bio-based content determination
ASTM D6866 measures bio-based carbon content by radiocarbon analysis. Fossil carbon carries a different Carbon-14 signature from carbon fixed recently by plants, so the method quantifies precisely how much of a product’s carbon came from biomass and how much from petroleum. Bio-based labeling programs in Europe and North America both build on it.
EN 16785, the European method
EN 16785 sets out the European methodology. Part 1 covers the radiocarbon method, much like ASTM D6866. Part 2 uses elemental analysis, which catches bio-based nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen that a carbon-only measurement would miss.
Biodegradability beyond composting
Not every biodegradable bioplastic is aimed at a composting plant. Some applications need materials that break down in soil, freshwater or seawater, and each of those settings needs its own test conditions. Specialized standards cover these end-of-life pathways.
| Environment | Standard | Key Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial composting | EN 13432 / ASTM D6400 | 58°C, controlled humidity, 6 months |
| Home composting | AS 5810 (Australia) / NF T51-800 (France) | Ambient temperature, 12 months |
| Soil biodegradation | EN 17033 | Soil burial, ambient temperature, 24 months |
| Freshwater biodegradation | ISO 14851 / ISO 14852 | Aqueous aerobic conditions, ambient temperature |
| Marine biodegradation | ASTM D7081 (withdrawn) / ISO 22766 | Seawater conditions, ambient temperature |
| Anaerobic digestion | ISO 15985 | Anaerobic conditions, 52°C |
EN 17033 matters most in agriculture, where it governs biodegradable mulch film. Film certified to it breaks down in the soil, which saves farmers the labor and cost of lifting conventional plastic mulch at the end of the season. It is also a useful reference point for understanding which bio-based materials are not biodegradable and must never be left in a field.
How to read and verify a certification label
Four elements on the label tell you whether a certification claim holds up:
- A recognized certification logo, such as the Seedling, BPI or TUV Austria OK Compost mark.
- A certificate number you can check against the certifying body’s public database.
- The specific standard the product was certified against, for example EN 13432 or ASTM D6400.
- The scope of the certificate, meaning whether it covers the whole product or only part of it, such as the film but not the adhesive label.
Treat “biodegradable” or “eco-friendly” with no standard reference and no recognized logo as untested. The distance between certified compostable and loosely biodegradable is wide, and biodegradable fossil-based polymers show how much end-of-life performance can vary within the same word.
Changes coming to bioplastics standards
Five developments are currently reshaping certification and testing:
- Microplastic formation: research is pushing standard-setting bodies to ask whether certified compostable materials leave microplastic residues even when they pass current disintegration thresholds.
- Home composting harmonization: home compostability standards still differ by country, and pressure is building for a single international version.
- Digital certification: QR codes and digital product passports are being tied into certification schemes so that consumers and waste sorters can verify a claim on the spot.
- PFAS exclusion: certification bodies including BPI now refuse products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), whatever their compostability results.
- EU regulatory alignment: the updated Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is expected to reinforce EN 13432 and may mandate compostability certification for categories such as tea bags, coffee pods and fruit stickers.
For how these standards fit the wider picture, browse the Knowledge Zone, or read about non-biodegradable fossil-based polymers to see what sits outside their scope entirely.