Eco-Products partners with Compost Manufacturing Alliance

Eco-Products of Boulder, Colorado, has announced an agreement with the new Compost Manufacturing Alliance (CMA) program to help composters better understand the composability of each product. The agreement, which provides access to the CMA “Composter Approved” logo, will cover all of Eco-Products’ compostable plates, cups, bowls, containers and utensils.

Eco-Products says it recognizes that with the continuing growth of composting across the U.S. comes a wider variety of composting technologies, parameters and climates. The company says participating in this new program will validate which types of composting operations have successfully broken down Eco-Products packaging and provide clarity into how its products perform in compost piles.

“With greater numbers of stadiums, restaurants and other venues seeking to increase their waste diversion by composting food scraps and packaging, it’s important to us that composters have confidence that our products perform in their compost operations,” says Sarah Martinez, Eco-Products’ director of marketing. “Whether the composter operates windrows, an aerated-static pile system or other technology, this specific CMA logo will demonstrate that our packaging is ‘composter approved’ to work in their operation. It is our hope that more composters will then see the value in accepting packaging as a feedstock, thus expanding access to commercial composting across the country.”

Eco-Products’ compostable foodservice packaging, made from either plant-based plastic or fibers, has already been certified as compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) to meet the applicable ASTM International standards for compostability. The company says its products have been verified by independent labs and a third-party certification body to break down safely in commercial composting facilities. Eco-Products says it sees CMA approval as a valuable real-world complement to the lab-based certification provided by BPI. Eco-Products will use the CMA “Composter Approved” logo to identify which products passed CMA’s testing in various composting systems. 

CMA’s new program includes a technical review and field testing of compostable products when shipped to fully permitted industrial composting facilities. More than 500 products have already been tested in the program.

“We started this important program because cities, businesses and residents are all striving for zero waste,” says Susan Thoman, the principal and managing director of the Compost Manufacturing Alliance. “It’s important for our partner and affiliated composter facilities to know which products will break down in their type of composting process.”

Eco-Products says it continues to focus on facilitating greater access to composting and waste diversion by sustainability-minded venues and support the growing compost manufacturing industry.