Top: Usage example of the new Compostable Commercial & Home label.  Images courtesy Biodegradable Products Institute

The Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) announced its new Commercial & Home Compostable Certification program in September, with the program officially launching on December 1, 2025. A new label was developed for the combined Commercial & Home Compostable Certification program. The new certification offers a scientifically rigorous framework to clearly identify products that safely break down in home compost piles, says BPI. To earn the new certification, products must break down completely in the lower temperatures of backyard composting environments in addition to meeting existing certification criteria. Limiting components such as PFAS, carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and heavy metals in products helps ensure that compost containing certified compostable packaging can meet the highest standards, adds BPI.

The home composting thresholds were validated through extensive field testing across North American climates and composting practices, identifying management practices needed to set performance expectations. BPI currently certifies over 51,000 products as commercially compostable, from food scrap collection bags to takeout containers and consumer food packaging. Notes BPI, “by linking the Commercial & Home Compostable Certifications, professional composters can trust that products will work in their system and consumers can have confidence in sustainable packaging claims with clear instructions for end of life. Home compostability gives brands an avenue to make validated packaging claims without accusation of using terms often associated with ‘greenwashing’.”