Most buyers arrive here after searching for “packaging certifications BPI” — the right place to start in North America, but only one of four documents worth collecting. A logo on a website proves nothing; a certificate naming your SKU proves something. This guide covers what each document certifies and what to request before you place a purchase order.
Start with the documents, not the logos
There are two failure modes in packaging procurement. The first is ordering from an uncertified supplier. The second is subtler: a supplier holding a valid certificate that does not cover your product.
Certification is granted per item and per material — not per company. A supplier can be certified for a molded fiber bowl and uncertified for the lid that ships with it. The practical question is never “are you certified?” but “show me the certificate naming this SKU.”
Two documents do most of the work, and they are not the same. A compostability certificate covers what happens at end of life; a statement of compliance covers whether the item is legally safe to put food in. Buyers routinely collect the first and forget the second.
Compostability: BPI and the standards behind it
The Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) is the North American certification body for compostable products and packaging. It operates two programs:
- Commercial Only Certification — items break down in commercial compost facilities.
- Commercial & Home Certification — items break down in commercial facilities and in properly managed home compost bins.
Commercial certification is a prerequisite for home certification, so the home mark is the broader claim.
BPI uses ASTM D6400 as the base standard for all items entering its Commercial Compostability Certification Program. Optional assessment against ASTM D6868 and/or ASTM D8410 is available for eligible items, decided by BPI’s technical reviewer.
That eligibility rule is easy to miss. Assessment to ASTM D8410 is limited to cellulosic-fiber-based substrates and excludes items where a thermoplastic polymer is laminated to such a substrate. A pure molded fiber bagasse container can qualify under D8410; the same container with a laminated thermoplastic film cannot.
BPI’s Home Compostability program rests on a different base — the French Standard NF T 51-800. Testing conditions differ sharply:
| Test | Commercial | Home |
|---|---|---|
| Disintegration | 58 ±2°C, up to 84 days | 25 ±2°C, up to 180 days |
| Biodegradation | 58 ±2°C, 6 months | 25 ±2°C, 12 months |
The takeaway: “compostable” without a named program and a named standard is not a specification.
ASTM and EN 13432: the standards themselves
Two ASTM specifications carry most of the weight in North America:
- ASTM D6400 — Standard Specification for Labeling of Plastics Designed to be Aerobically Composted in Municipal or Industrial Facilities
- ASTM D6868 — Standard Specification for Labeling of End Items that Incorporate Plastics and Polymers as Coatings or Additives with Paper and Other Substrates Designed to be Aerobically Composted in Municipal or Industrial Facilities
D6868 is written for paper and other substrates that incorporate plastics as coatings or additives — which describes most foodservice fiber packaging. If a certificate cites only D6400 for a coated paper product, ask why.
For Europe, the reference is EN 13432: Packaging — Requirements for packaging recoverable through composting and biodegradation — Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging. A product sold into the EU will typically need this rather than an ASTM citation.
Food-contact compliance: the FDA layer
Compostability and food safety are separate questions; the second is regulated by the FDA. Under FDA’s framework, the status of a food contact material depends on each individual substance in it. Every substance reasonably expected to migrate to food must be covered by one of:
- a regulation in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR 174–179, where Part 176 covers paper and paperboard components and Part 177 covers polymers)
- GRAS status
- a prior sanction letter
- a Threshold of Regulation (TOR) exemption
- an effective Food Contact Substance Notification (FCN)
Here is the point that catches importers. Under Section 409(h)(2)(C) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, an FCN is effective only for the manufacturer, the substance, and the conditions of use identified in the notification. It is not effective for a similar substance from a different manufacturer — FCNs are proprietary, and the substance must come from the manufacturer named in it.
So “our material is FDA approved” is not transferable. FDA states it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure compliance, and that buyers may request a letter of guaranty certifying the product is acceptable for the intended food-contact use.
Manufacturing certification: BRCGS
Compostability covers end of life. FDA covers the material. Neither audits the factory. That is what BRCGS does.
The BRCGS Global Standard for Packaging Materials is a GFSI-benchmarked standard — which is what makes it commercially useful, since many retailers and food brands accept GFSI-benchmarked certification in place of their own supplier audits.
Its clause 3.4.3 requires that where packaging for food or hygiene-sensitive products is produced, a statement of compliance be maintained enabling users to ensure compatibility between the packaging and the product it contacts. It must be compiled and authorised by a suitably competent person and contain, at minimum:
- the nature of the materials used in manufacture
- confirmation the packaging meets relevant legal requirements
- any post-consumer recycled materials
- its date of issue and, where appropriate, expiry date
- any limitations of use
- the usable life of the packaging, where relevant
The site must review it at a risk-based frequency. This is the single most useful document in a packaging file: one page naming the material, the legal basis, the recycled content, the limits and the expiry.
What to request before you place a PO
- The compostability certificate naming your SKU — program (commercial or home), standard cited (D6400, D6868, D8410, NF T 51-800 or EN 13432), and expiry date.
- The statement of compliance for the item, covering the six points above.
- The FDA basis for every food-contacting component — the specific 21 CFR citation, or the FCN reference plus the manufacturer it belongs to.
- The BRCGS certificate and grade for the manufacturing site, with audit date.
- The bill of materials — so you can see whether a coating, liner or lid is part of the item. This decides whether D8410 or D6400/D6868 applies.
- **Written confirmation of what is not certified.** The honest answer is more useful than a blanket claim.
Three pages on our site help you prepare this conversation: our certifications page sets out the compliance documentation we hold, the packaging materials guide compares kraft paper and bagasse on the properties that drive these standards, and the bagasse tableware range shows the molded fiber formats these rules most often apply to.
Treat missing documentation as a commercial risk, not an administrative one. The certificate belongs to a specific item from a specific manufacturer, so a gap cannot be solved by reassurance — and it can be checked. BPI, for example, publishes a searchable register of certified products; as of 7 October 2026 it listed 50,875 products. If a supplier’s item is not in the register, the claim is not certified, whatever the artwork says.
If you need the certificate, the standard and the statement of compliance for a specific SKU in writing, tell us what you are buying and we will send the documentation pack for that item.
