CEN/TC 261/SC 4/WG 2 - Degradability and organic recovery of packaging and packaging materials

This document specifies a laboratory scale test method for determining the degree of disintegration of test items when exposed to well-managed home composting conditions by the weight evaluation method (WE method) using sieving and evaluation by weighing.
The test method is not applicable for the determination of the biodegradability of test items under home composting conditions. Additional testing is necessary for making claims concerning the suitability for home composting. This document is not appropriate for claims relating to the suitability for home composting.
This test method is carried out at laboratory scale under controlled conditions. Therefore, it does not reproduce any real home composting conditions, but it is devised to gain information on the potential of the test item to disintegrate sufficiently. A test item that passes this test is assumed to be capable of undergoing full disintegration in a 12 months home composting cycle carried out under well managed conditions. For features of well-managed home composting see EN 17427:2022, Annex E.

This document specifies a testing scheme and requirements for the designation of carrier bags of any materials that are considered to be suitable for incorporation into well-managed home composting installations for non-commercial purposes with a home composting cycle of normally at least 12 months. Carrier bags are considered as home compostable in a well-managed system only if all the individual components meet the requirements.
The following four aspects are addressed:
a )characterization;
b) biodegradation in well managed home composting;
c) disintegration in well managed home composting; and
d) home compost quality.
The four aspects, a) to d), are assessing the effects on the biological treatment process and the compost made by it.
This document forms the basis for the labelling of carrier bags that are considered to be suitable for the incorporation into well-managed home composting installations.
NOTE 1 Compliance with the requirements of this document by the carrier bags entering the compost does not necessarily imply that a high-quality compost will be produced.
This document covers the suitability of carrier bags for the incorporation into well managed home composting installations but does not address regulations that may exist regarding the suitability of anything disposed together with the carrier bag to home composting.
This document provides a set of guidance on the parameters, boundaries and processes required to engage in well managed, aerobic, home composting. Alternative composting methods and systems may not provide the conditions necessary for the successful home composting of carrier bags which comply with the requirements of this document.
NOTE 2 Additional general information about home composting is provided in Annex F.
The testing scheme and the requirements specified by this document do not apply to worm composting, industrial composting nor community composting. It also does not provide information on the biodegradability of carrier bags ending up in the environment as litter.
This document includes a reference to features of well-managed home composting (Annex E).
The compost produced via home composting by a private individual is for private use only and not for provision to others, free of charge or in return for payment. Therefore, this document has no value as a marketing authorization or authorization of use of the final compost.
NOTE 3 The testing scheme and evaluation criteria could be the basis for the establishment of suitability to home composting of other products.
NOTE 4 The purpose of testing activity b) is to demonstrate the potential for ultimate biodegradation of the test material when exposed to microbes active under mesophilic conditions (between 15 °C and 45 °C).
NOTE 5 The purpose of testing activity c) is to verify the thickness and/or grammage that allows a full disintegration of the test product in a period consistent with a home composting cycle, under defined environmental conditions. To allow for the potential for variations of local climatic conditions and consumer application of well-managed home composting techniques, lower than optimal temperature profile has been adopted for this test.

This European Standard is used to evaluate the disintegration of packaging materials in a pilot-scale aerobic composting test under defined conditions. Other methods should be used to measure the biodegradability of the packaging materials. Packaging materials are mixed with biowaste and spontaneously composted for 12 weeks in practical oriented composting conditions. At the end of the composting cycle the disintegration is measured by sieving of the compost and the calculation of a mass balance. The influence of the tested sample on the quality of the compost can be be studied by using the compost obtained at the end of the composting process for further measurements such as chemical analyses and ecotoxicity tests.
Additionally this method can be used for visual perception and photographic documentation of the disintegration of packaging materials and for evaluating the effect of their addition on the composting process.

This European Standard specifies a method for the evaluation of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of packaging materials based on organic compounds under controlled composting conditions by measurement of released carbon dioxide at the end of the test. This method is designed to resemble typical aerobic composting conditions for the organic fraction of mixed municipal solid waste. The packaging material is exposed in a laboratory test to an inoculum which is derived from compost. The aerobic composting takes place in an environment where especially temperature, aeration and humidity are closely monitored and controlled. The test method is designed to yield a percentage and rate of conversion of carbon of the test material to released carbon dioxide.
The conditions described in this European Standard do not necessarily always correspond to the optimal conditions allowing the maximum degree of biodegradation to occur.

This standard specifies a method to evaluate the ultimate biodegradability of packaging materials and its constituents by measurement of CO2 evolution.

This standard specifies a method to evaluate the ultimate biodegradability of packaging materials and its constituents by measurement of O2-consumption.

This European Standard specifies requirements and procedures to determine the compostability and anaerobic treatability of packaging and packaging materials by addressing four characteristics: 1) biodegradability; 2) disintegration during biological treatment; 3) effect on the biological treatment process; 4) effect on the quality of the resulting compost. In case of a packaging formed by different components, some of which are compostable and some other not, the packaging itself, as a whole is not compostable.

This laboratory scale test method using synthetic waste aims at simulating the environmental conditions found in industrial composting plants. Packaging materials exposed to this environment can be preliminary assessed for disintegrability. A negative result does not necessarily mean that the test material is not disintegrating under industrial composting conditions. This test does not replace the acceptance disintegration test as specified in EN 14045, in accordance with EN 13432.