Colorado law sets new labeling standards for compostable items

A new Colorado law that took effect July 1 establishes “truth-in-labeling” standards for compostable products, CPR reports.

Kelly Leviker, an antiplastics advocate for the Colorado Public Interest Research Group, says the goal is to identify items that look compostable but aren’t certified to break down in an industrial compost heap.

“What we’re hoping is that this law makes it very clear to people what is compostable and what’s not compostable,” Leviker says. “Once that becomes very clear to people, industrial composting facilities will then start to gain more confidence and accept these items.”

Driving the legislation is the rise of compostable packaging at restaurants and on store shelves. In reality, many look-alike noncompostable cups and takeout containers aren’t certified as compostable by the Biodegradable Product Institute, the leading labeling authority for North America, or the Compost Manufacturing Alliance, another certification group that works directly with compost processors.

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Those look-alike products are one reason A1 Organics, the state’s biggest industrial composting facility, last year banned anything other than yard waste and food scraps, according to the report. The policy limited local and state ambitions to divert waste away from landfills.

The new law requires a clear logo on certified compostable products along with green color, tinting or telltale design patters, and bans any other products from using green color schemes or labels like “biodegradable” or “natural.”

The law also deputizes consumers as compost cops. If any product appears to violate the state’s new labeling standards, residents are encouraged to report it through an online form.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will review submissions and forward violations to the Attorney General’s Office, which could then enforce the law under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, seeking fines or requiring a company to change its business practices, the story reports.