HOW TO COMPOST

BPI Certified compostable bar packaging

First thing's first — YES our packaging is plant-based and compostable. NO that does not mean you can throw it on the ground and it'll disappear. Always remember to leave no trace and find the proper place to dispose of your waste. Always think sustainably.

To read more about our sustainability goals, CLICK HERE.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's learn how to compost.


HOW TO COMPOST OUR PACKAGING

All our packaging is BPI Certified Commercially Compostable.

This means that if your neighborhood or region has a public or private composting program or facility, you can send our packaging to them and they'll turn it back into dirt in no time!

Click Here to find a composting facility near you.


WHY USE INDUSTRIAL COMPOSTING

Currently there is no 3rd party certification in the U.S. for home composting. Because of the great variance in the types home composters, it's difficult to guarantee that our packaging will compost properly at home. Industrial composting facilities are able to consistently maintain the proper conditions required to reliably break down compostable packaging and turn it into healthy compost.

If you’d like to try to compost our packaging yourself, keep in mind that you may not be able to generate the consistent conditions to properly turn it into compost.
 

ABOUT OUR PACKAGING

When compared to the plastic wrappers used by most snack bar companies which can stay in landfills for decades, our plant-based compostable packaging will break down when composted to help reduce our impact on the planet. 

All our packaging is made from wood cellulose (wood pulp) from PEFC Certified sustainably managed forests in the Pacific Northwest and bioplastic partially made from corn. It is also substantiated ASTM D6400 Industrial Compostable. The ink is both home and industrial compostable, Certified to the EU standard, EN 13432.


The entirety of our individual bar wrappers (film, adhesive, and ink) are BPI Certified Compostable making us the first bar in the world to carry this certification. This certification makes it easier for end of life composters to handle and ensures that it will create healthy, nutrient rich compost for truly regenerative packaging.


COMPOSTING VS BIODEGRADEABLE

The main difference between these two types of materials is that when compostable materials are composted properly, they are turned into nutrient rich compost for the earth whereas biodegradable materials simply break down into innocuous elements naturally.

It's important to point out that compostable materials are biodegradable, but biodegradable materials are not compostable. 


WHAT HAPPENS IF I PUT MY WRAPPER IN THE TRASH?

In a landfill environment, there is no oxygen to convert innocuous elements into usable, nutrient rich compost. Therefore, materials in these environments can have the ability to biodegrade, but not turned into compost. If your wrapper makes it to a marine environment, the material still cannot become compost because the temperature is too low and it requires terrestrial life to decompose it (fungi, certain bacterium) that are not present in the ocean.. So please, whenever possible, take the steps to make sure your packaging is composted correctly to give back to our beautiful, natural world!

 

*In our pursuit to find the most sustainable and eco-friendly materials, BAR-U-EAT will constantly reevaluate our packaging and seek out new sustainable materials as they become available.