Compostable Industrial - Self Declared is one of the declarations under the Ekko Score Recycle Standard.
Compostable Industrial - Self Declared icon identifies and differentiates a product as biodegradable and compostable in an industrial facility. To make this declaration, the business must understand the requirements of the AS 4736-2006 Standard – Biodegradable plastics—Biodegradable plastics suitable for composting and other microbial treatment, specifies requirements and procedures to determine the compostability, or anaerobic biodegradation, of plastics by addressing biodegradability, disintegration during biological treatment, effect on the biological treatment process and effect on the quality of the resulting compost.
Compostable Industrial - Self Declared will become increasingly important as more communities introduce source separation systems for diverting food waste from landfill and these products are sent to an industrial compost plant. These plants provide composting under controlled conditions, i.e. controlled temperatures, humidity, aeration, etc.
Compostable Industrial - Self Declared sits in the COMPOSTABLE - INDUSTRIAL Family under two environmental Standards of Ekko Score: Recycle and Packaging. One set of weighted Ekko Score points are gathered from each Family.
These are the claimable declarations & certifications under the Environmental Standard: Recycle. Please note that different certifications and declarations may be relevant to each category.
Yes, where the impact of the claim is similar. This is how it works.
IMPORTANTLY, SELF DECLARATIONS ARE GOVERNED BY CONSUMER LAW. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR BUSINESSES TO MAKE FALSE CLAIMS (INCLUDING IMPLIED CLAIMS IN A CONTEXT LIKE EKKO SCORE).
EVEN IF A PRODUCT HAS A FORMAL CERTIFICATION, THAT CERTIFICATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ENTIRE INTEGRITY OF THE PRODUCT'S MAKE UP.
An example might be a Handmade, Australian, Certified Organic chocolate that contains Palm Oil. Under Ekko Score, this product would claim Certified Organic and would self declare: Zero Waste Production and Australian made, but could not claim the No Palm Oil declaration. This would mean a lower score under the No Exploitation Standard, making the inclusion of Palm Oil clear to potential consumers, without detracting from its other assets.
No product is perfect, but some products are definitely better than others. Ekko Score allows you to make the best decision you can, or to put it another way, the least worst decision. And to make that decision with the confidence of not being green washed. Find out more about how Ekko Score works.