OK Compost vs BPI: Which Compostability Certificate Does Your Bakery P
OK Compost vs BPI: Which Compostability Certificate Does Your Bakery Packaging Order Actually Need?
BPI and OK Compost answer two different procurement questions. BPI is the compostability mark most North American retailers, composting facilities, and institutional buyers recognize, and it rests on ASTM test standards. OK Compost, the TÜV Austria program, follows the European EN 13432 standard…
Summary
BPI and OK Compost answer two different procurement questions. BPI is the compostability mark most North American retailers, composting facilities, and institutional buyers recognize, and it rests on ASTM test standards. OK Compost, the TÜV Austria program, follows the European EN 13432 standard and comes in an industrial version and a home-composting version that match EU, UK, and Australian expectations. Which certificate your bakery packaging needs is decided by where the goods are sold and composted, not by the fiber alone. This article compares the two certification routes, explains how waste-stream sorting guidance differs between North America and the EU, and lists the per-SKU documents that keep every compostability claim in your order file traceable.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Why a compostability claim is a sourcing risk before it is a slogan
"Compostable" printed on a cake box or a bakery bag is a claim that regulators, retail buyers, and waste operators can all challenge. For a multi-store bakery brand the exposure is commercial, not cosmetic: a composter that rejects the packaging stalls the diversion program, a retailer onboarding audit that finds no certificate delays the listing, and an unsubstantiated claim invites greenwashing complaints.
Sourcing teams have responded by treating compostability evidence the way they treat food-contact paperwork: something confirmed before the purchase order is placed, not negotiated after a shipment lands.
Who issues each certificate, and which market reads it
BPI: the North American reference
In North America the reference mark belongs to the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), a United States non-profit that certifies finished packaging against ASTM standards: D6400 for compostable plastics and D6868 for compostable coatings used on fiber-based foodservice items. Many North American composting facilities and retail sustainability programs point to the BPI product catalog when they define what their streams can accept, which is why US-facing sourcing files usually start with BPI recognition.
OK Compost: the EN 13432 route
TÜV Austria administers the OK Compost program. Its industrial version is built on EN 13432, the European standard for industrial compostability, while OK Compost HOME covers the cooler, less controlled conditions of a garden heap. Buyers across EU member states, the United Kingdom, and Australia read this route fluently, so EN 13432 evidence is the working language of EU-facing packaging files.
Where FSC fits — and why it is a different question
FSC certification answers a sourcing question, not a waste-stream question: it tracks fiber back to responsibly managed forests through chain-of-custody records. A bakery box can carry FSC-traced fiber and still need separate compostability evidence, because the two documents usually come from different parts of the supply chain. Treat them as parallel files rather than substitutes.
What the two test routes actually examine
Both routes ask the same family of questions in different laboratories: does the item break apart within the composting cycle, how much of the material converts, and does the finished compost stay safe for plants and soil under heavy-metal and ecotoxicity limits.
Neither route certifies a raw material on its own. The certificate attaches to a finished product and its complete formulation, coating, adhesives, and additives included. That is why two items made from the same molded fiber can sit on opposite sides of the compliance line.
Why the same claim lands in different waste streams
North America decides diversion locally. An industrial composter accepts what its process can handle, and acceptance rules shift from one municipality to the next even when the certificate is identical, so BPI recognition opens doors without guaranteeing that every local program takes the item.
In the EU, EN 13432 is the reference behind industrial-compostability claims, and home-compost claims follow the stricter OK Compost HOME logic, while sorting guidance and labeling rules still vary by member state.
The practical rule for packaging copy: never pre-write acceptance into a market. Confirm the destination's sorting guidance first, then let the certificate follow the claim.
A decision tree for sourcing teams
Where do the goods sell? United States or Canada points to ASTM-route evidence; the EU or UK points to EN 13432.
Which claim do you need? Industrial composting and home composting are different claims backed by different tests.
Do you need both markets covered? Split the file by destination and verify coverage item by item; dual coverage exists but has to be proven, not assumed.
Who owns the evidence? Name a document owner before production so certificate renewals and customer audits never arrive as surprises.
Document checks that keep claim evidence traceable
Before awarding an order, ask the supplier for four things: a certificate copy issued by the certification body rather than a marketing slide; the scope pages matched line by line to the SKUs on your purchase order; the validity period together with the certified formulation, including any coating; and the batch linkage, meaning how a production batch you receive maps back to the certified formulation, for example batch documentation or a declaration of conformity per shipment.
A supplier who can only offer the bare word "compostable" without SKU-level documents is asking you to carry the compliance risk alone.
How Takeawaypack handles certification evidence
Takeawaypack is a foodservice packaging brand and procurement coordinator that works with multiple packaging manufacturers across cups, bowls, boxes, containers, trays, lids, bags, and cutlery. On our lines, certification belongs to the producing factory rather than to a blanket catalog promise: select product lines, including certain kraft and molded-pulp lines, carry compostable or recycled-content related certification, and our supplying paper mill holds FSC Chain of Custody (GFA-COC-006105, valid through 2027-02) together with GRS 4.0 (TE-00121899, valid through 2026-11).
When a buyer needs certified packaging, we confirm the documentation path per SKU, tied to the order quantity, the destination market, and the claim category that destination requires. Questions about BPI, OK Compost, EN 13432, or FSC are answered with the relevant factory documentation for the specific items, or with a clear statement when a line does not carry the certificate in question.
Next step: send SKUs, quantities, and destination markets
Multi-store bakery procurement leads: send your packaging list with the destination market for each store cluster and the claim each market requires, and the documentation path is mapped per SKU.
Independent bakery owners: share the items and the city you trade in, so the right certificate question is asked before production rather than after delivery.
Distributors and importers: request the certificate file matched to your catalog shortlist and tender conditions.
Start the conversation at https://takeawaypack.com with your SKUs, quantities, and destination markets, and the certification paperwork is confirmed item by item before you commit the order.
