The law also stipulates that products carrying a \u201ccompostable\u201d label must meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s National Organic Program requirements, which only allow for plant and animal material in compost feedstock, and bar all synthetic substances and materials \u2014 plastics, bioplastics and most packaging materials \u2014 except for newspaper or other recycled paper without glossy or colored ink.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Close-up of text on plastic cup reading Made From Corn, referring to plant derived bioplastics.<\/p>\n
(Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The USDA is reviewing those requirements at the request of a compostable plastics and packaging industry trade group. Its ruling, expected this fall, could open the door for materials such as bioplastic cups, coffee pods and compostable plastic bags to be admitted into the organic compost waste stream.<\/p>\n
Amid pressure from the industry, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery said it will await implementing its own rules on AB 1201 \u2014 originally set for Jan. 1, 2026 \u2014 until June 30, 2027, to incorporate the USDA guidelines, should there be a change.<\/p>\n
Pryor is concerned that a USDA ruling to allow certain plastic to be considered compost will contaminate his product, make it unsaleable to farmers, and undermine the purpose of composting \u2014 which is to improve soil and crop health. <\/p>\n
Plastics, microplastics and toxic chemicals can hurt and kill the microorganisms that make his compost healthy and valued. Research also shows these materials, chemicals and products can threaten the health of crops grown in them. <\/p>\n
And while research on new generation plastics made from plant and other organic fibers have more mixed findings \u2014 suggesting some fibers, in some circumstances, may not be harmful \u2014 Pryor said the farmers who buy his compost don\u2019t want any of it. They\u2019ve told him they won\u2019t buy it if he accepts it in his feedstock.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ask farmers, hey, do you mind plastic in your compost? Every one of them will say no. Nobody wants it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, for manufacturers of next-generation, \u201ccompostable\u201d food packaging products \u2014 such as bioplastic bags, cups and takeout containers made from corn, kelp or sugarcane fibers \u2014 those federal requirements present an existential threat to their industry.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because California is moving toward a new waste management regime which, by 2032, will require all single-use plastic packaging products sold in the state to be either recyclable or compostable. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A worker at Recology\u2019s Blossom Hill composting site rides his bike back to the sorting machines after a break in Vernalis, Calif., on June 26.<\/p>\n
(Susanne Rust \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
If the products these companies have designed and manufactured for the sole purpose of being incorporated in the compost waste stream are excluded, they will be shut out of the huge California market. <\/p>\n
They say their products are biodegradable, contain minimal amounts of toxic chemicals and metals, and provide an alternative to the conventional plastics used to make chip bags, coffee pods and frozen food trays \u2014 and wind up in landfills, rivers and oceans. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs we move forward, not only are you capturing all this material … such as coffee grounds, but there isn\u2019t really another packaging solution in terms of finding an end of life,\u201d for these products, said Alex Truelove, senior policy manager for the Biodegradable Product Institute, a trade organization for compostable packaging producers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Material is loaded into a mixing truck where biosolids and amendments are combined then stored in climate controlled piles to cure at the Tulare Lake Compost plant. (Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you could recycle those little cups, which it seems like no one is willing to do … it still requires someone to separate out and peel off the foil top and dump out the grounds. Imagine if you could just have a really thin covering or really thin packaging, and then you could just put it all in\u201d the compost he said. \u201cHow much more likely would it be for people to participate?\u201d<\/p>\n
Truelove and Rhodes Yepsen, the executive director of the bioplastic institute, also point to compost bin and can liners, noting that many people won\u2019t participate in separating out their food waste if they can\u2019t put it in a bag \u2014 the \u201cyuck\u201d factor. If you create a compostable bag, they say, more people will buy into the program.<\/p>\n
The institute \u2014 whose board members include or have included representatives from the chemical giant BASF Corp., polystyrene manufacturer Dart Container, Eastman Chemical Co. and PepsiCo \u2014 is lobbying the federal and state government to get its products into the compost stream. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Greg Pryor, Recology\u2019s director of landfill and organics, stands in front of a pile of processed compost at the integrated waste management\u2019s Blossom Hill compost site in Vernalis, Calif., on June 26.<\/p>\n
(Susanne Rust \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
The institute also works as a certifying body, testing, validating and then certifying compostable packaging for composting facilities across the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n