Does Compostable Packaging Actually Break Down? Composting Consortium Reveals Groundbreaking Findings from Largest Field Test in North America

Urban Farm DB summary

The largest field test of its kind in North America — 18 months, 10 facilities, over 23,000 units — found that certified compostable packaging breaks down in properly managed compost facilities. Compostable plastics averaged 98% degradation by surface area and fiber packaging averaged 83%, both exceeding industry thresholds (90% and 80% respectively). The market is projected to grow 16% annually.

Only numbers and their conditions are stored, as structured data — never the source's own sentences. Metric and condition names stay in English, as coded.

• 98 %

  degradation rate by surface area(compostable plastic packaging)

  Compost

  region

  North America

  facilities

  10

  method

  5 composting methods, 18-month field test

• 83 %

  degradation rate by surface area(compostable fiber packaging)

  Compost

  region

  North America

  facilities

  10

  method

  5 composting methods, 18-month field test

• 90 %

  industry degradation threshold(compostable plastic packaging)

  Compost
• 80 %

  industry degradation threshold(compostable fiber packaging)

  Compost
• 23,000

  field test tested units(compost facilities)

  Compost

  region

  North America

  facilities

  10

  package types

  31

• 70 %

  food contact packaging acceptance rate(us composters)

  Economics

  region

  United States

• 16 %_per_year

  market growth rate(compostable packaging market)

  EconomicsControl: conventional plastic packaging growth rate

  period

  through 2032

Direction of conclusions

Each author conclusion is recorded only as a coded direction per topic. Read the original for the conclusion itself.

• Compost / nutrient cycleSupports
• Economic viabilitySupportsWith caveats