why home
compostable?
make a change in your backyard
The popularity of composting is on the rise. Whether a person is making use of their food scraps or diverting yard waste from the curb to the green bin, composting has never been easier.
What if you could compost your plastics, too?
Creating compostable plastics lowers the need for conventional plastics and goes a step further to turn discarded material into food for the soil. By upcycling agricultural waste like rice husks into bioplastics, we can make use of a by-product and then return it to the earth when we’re done.
what is composting?
To start, let’s review what composting is. Instead of throwing away or recycling organic waste, certain biobased matter can be compiled in a controlled, aerated environment to naturally break down into fertilizer. This also requires nitrogen, carbon, air, and water. The end result of the process is a heap of dark, soil-like material called compost—hence, “composting.”
what is home home composting?
Home composting means to develop and maintain a composting environment in your own home. Depending on where and how you live, you may have a slightly different system than your neighbor across the street or across the world.
Compostable plastics can be added to the mix in a typical composting environment and contribute to soil health. Once you’re done with the dinnerware, bags, or other bioplastics certified to be composted, you can add them to a compost bin or pile. Think of them as a double-edged sword against food waste and climate change. They prevent harmful plastics and plastic by-products being released into the environment, and they take agricultural waste that would have otherwise been burned or sent to a landfill and put it back into nature’s life cycle.
How to compost at home
There is no one right way to compost at home. Some people prefer backyard composting by putting their waste into an enclosed barrel or tumblr, or making a bin made with wire or cinder blocks. Other people create a compost pile without a container at all. Recruiting worms as composting helpers—known as vermicomposting—is another popular method. To find out what’s right for you, do some research into your local climate, the quality of the space you have, amount of time you can dedicate, and other factors that will help or inhibit a good composting environment.
What else can you compost at home?
Any at-home composting environment needs a healthy, balanced mix of nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich matter. Bioplastics certainly cannot achieve this alone, and need the help of a number of other biodegradable items to return to the soil. It doesn’t have to be fancy, and it’s easier than you think: You see some of these things every day when you’re gardening or drinking your morning coffee!
Green matter (nitrogen-rich):
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Fresh leaves
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Fruit and vegetable scraps
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Grass clippings and flowers (unless diseased, pest-infested, or treated with herbicide)
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Coffee grounds
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Paper tea bags
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Crushed eggshells
Brown matter (carbon-rich):
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Dry leaves
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Hay and straw
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Shredded non-glossy, uncolored paper
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Shredded cardboard
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Untreated wood chips and sawdust
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Plant stalks and twigs (unless diseased, pest-infested, or treated with herbicide)
The ideal way to dispose of waste
It’s true that composting at home is not the simplest method of waste disposal. Tossing a bottle into the recycling bin takes minimal effort, and letting an industrial facility take care of returning your compostable waste to the soil puts the work out of sight and out of mind.
In terms of our impact on the earth, however, home composting is the ideal.
Recycling is a good practice, and in today’s world, fossil fuel-based plastic is practically unavoidable. We do our best to mitigate the damage it does beyond its intended use, but the negative impacts of synthetic plastic are well-documented. Fortunately, viable bioplastic alternatives are becoming more accessible!
The results in a home composting solution versus an industrial composting facility are very similar if the system is working as it should. However, there are a few challenges that industrial composting facilities face. Contaminants (e.g., plastic, glass, metal) mixing into the provided waste is common, the incoming feedstock is inconsistent (resulting in an imbalance of nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich matter), and the infrastructure for proper compostable waste disposal is not always available in your area.
Ultimately, home composting is the only way for you to know exactly what you’re returning to the earth.
where do būmi's home compostable products fit in?
All bioplastics are not created equal. One bioplastic may be biobased, but not biodegradable. Another may be biodegradable, but not biobased. Meanwhile, būmi bioplastics are both biobased and biodegradable, with all the usability of conventional plastic!
This is part of what makes būmi’s products certified as home compostable. This means they will biodegrade naturally and within a typical home composting time frame. Our products and packaging are made from agricultural waste biomass, such as plant fibers.
Unlike other bioplastics that need to be composted in an industrial setting with specialized facilities, būmi’s products require the same treatment as your banana peels:
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They compost into H2O, CO2, and organic soil with no toxic residues.
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Alongside other organic materials, they break down in a standard home compost pile or bin.
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Depending on composting conditions, they decompose within 3-6 months.
certifications: we're officially home compostable!
A plastic product can’t just call itself biodegradable or home compostable: To be considered safe for the environment and the consumer, it must earn a certification by a third-party organization. This process ensures that a supplier’s claims about the biodegradability of their product are true, and the certifier’s quality label tells the consumer that the product can be trusted. There are several credible ones out there—some more stringent than others—and būmi has earned four of the world’s leading certifications!
Biodegradable Products Institute: BPI Compostable
The BPI Certification Mark indicates that a plastic product passes ASTM D6400 standards for compostability. This North American certification verifies that the product can be safely composted alongside food waste and yard trimmings. As of now, the BPI certification does not differentiate between home and industrial composting, but don’t worry—we’ve got home composting covered, too. The testing requirements for BPI certification include:
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Biodegradation
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Disintegration
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Compost quality
Australasian Bioplastics Association: Home Compostable
The Home Compostable Verification label identifies plastic materials that are biodegradable and compostable. Specifically, the tested material must be home compostable. It requires conformance to Australian standards AS5810 and/or AS4736. The assessment covers four areas:
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Characterization
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Biodegradability
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Disintegration
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Compost quality (including toxicity)
DIN CERTCO: DIN-Geprüft HOME Compostable
Germany’s DIN-Geprüft HOME Compostable label certifies that consumers can safely compost the entirety of a product at home. Plastic products must comply with several internationally-recognized standards, but this certification uses NF T51-800 as the basis for its tests. These include:
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Chemical characterization
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Complete biodegradability
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Disintegration
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Plant compatibility (ecotoxicity test)
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Earthworm toxicity test
European Bioplastics: Seedling
Products labeled with the Seedling are certified for industrial compostability by two leading European certification organizations: Belgium’s TÜV Austria Belgium and Germany’s DIN CERTCO. This requires testing specifically according to EN 13432 / EN 14995 standards. To pass those standards, bioplastic products must undergo testing checking for:
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Chemicals
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Biodegradability
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Disintegration
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Ecotoxicity
looking to the future
We’re not stopping there! There are multiple ways to assure consumers a bioplastic product is both effective and eco-friendly. Beyond the four certifications above, būmi is already looking forward to what’s next.
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Compost Manufacturing Alliance (CMA): Tests adherence to industrial composting standards
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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Determines the environmental impact of an item from material extraction to waste treatment
Key takeaways about home composting
Whether you’re doing the composting yourself or using compostable packaging for your customers’ orders, home compostable bioplastics are a win for everyone.
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Anyone can take composting into their own hands.
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Compostable products are safe for the soil and even enrich it.
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To be officially home compostable, a product needs to obtain certification from one or more credible organizations.
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Biodegradable is not necessarily the same as biobased or compostable.
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Bioplastics are not always biobased or compostable—but būmi’s are!