Can plastic packaging be thrown into organic waste? Can coated baking paper be disposed of in the compost? Some providers give exactly this impression with advertising claims such as compostable or biodegradable But can consumers rely on these statements? The Baden-Württemberg consumer advice center is conducting a market check and calling for a reliable labeling system.

“Plastics have no place in organic waste, no matter what it says on the packaging,” says Vanessa Holste from the consumer advice center, summarizing the results of the market check. “Providers deceive consumers with advertising claims such as compostable or biodegradable .” For its market check, the consumer advice center collected a total of 46 products that were advertised as compostable or biodegradable with statements or seals. The products include organic waste bags, wet wipes, coffee capsules, coated baking paper and packaging.

Decomposition takes too long

Although some plastics actually decompose into CO2 and water under certain conditions, the organic waste only spends a few weeks in industrial composting plants, too short for sufficient decomposition. “In most districts in Baden-Württemberg, products advertised as compostable or biodegradable are banned in the organic waste bin or only permitted with restrictions,” says Holste.

Only in one of the 35 districts responsible for waste disposal, which responded to a corresponding request from the consumer advice center, are (organic) garbage bags, carrier bags, coffee capsules, baking paper, food packaging, disposable tableware and cutlery advertised as compostable or biodegradable allowed to be thrown into the organic waste. The permission to dispose of such plastics in organic waste is therefore very limited. However, the reference to this is missing from most products or is difficult to find.

Seals offer no orientation

Manufacturers use seals and advertising statements to give the impression that the plastics can easily be disposed of with organic waste or compost. The seals that the consumer advice center found on 18 of the 46 products examined - the seedling, OK compost HOME, OK compost INDUSTRIAL - are all private seals. “There is currently no legal regulation as to which criteria products must meet in order to be considered compostable,” says Holste. “The seals are therefore nothing more than additional advertising.”

Reliable labeling

The consumer advice center is calling for a labeling system for compostable and biodegradable products. For this purpose, the terms compostable and biodegradable must be legally defined. The understanding of consumers must be taken into account. Only then can consumers really and reliably act sustainably.

Until this labeling system is in force, the only way to protect against misleading and the environment is to ban advertising claims such as compostable or biodegradable on products that cannot be disposed of in organic waste throughout Germany.

Detailed information and the full report can be found HERE .

Source:

Consumer advice center BW

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