A five-year collaboration among composting industry leaders has produced the most comprehensive real-world data yet on how compostable packaging actually breaks down in American composting facilities, and the findings are reshaping how cities and composters approach food waste recovery. The Closed Loop Partners' Center for the Circular Economy launched the Composting Consortium in 2021 to tackle a fragmented system where uncertainty about compostable materials often prevented their recovery at scale. Over five years, the initiative tested more than 23,000 certified, food-contact compostable packaging items across six different composting technologies and 10 diverse environments, then donated the findings to establish the first open-source disintegration database.

What's Actually Happening Inside Composting Facilities?

One of the most eye-opening discoveries from the Consortium's work concerns contamination. The research established one of the first baselines for contamination types and costs, showing that contamination management accounts for roughly 20% of composting operating expenses. This finding has major implications for how municipalities and private composters budget and plan their operations. When consumers throw non-compostable items into organics bins, or when compostable packaging fails to disintegrate properly, facility operators face significant labor and equipment costs to sort and remove the contaminants.

The Consortium also field-tested ASTM standards D8618 and D8619, which are the technical benchmarks for how compostable materials should perform in real-world conditions. By closing the gap between laboratory testing and actual facility operations, the research informed a forthcoming national field guide led by the U.S. Composting Council (USCC) and the Compost Research and Education Foundation (CREF). This means future compostable packaging will be designed and tested with real-world variability in mind, rather than idealized lab conditions.

How Is Labeling Affecting Consumer Behavior and Facility Operations?

Consumer confusion about what can and cannot be composted has been a persistent barrier to scaling food waste recovery. The Consortium conducted a national labeling study with the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) that directly informed testimony supporting Colorado's landmark labeling law to protect composters from contamination. The research identified labeling best practices to reduce consumer confusion and improve circular outcomes for compostable packaging. When consumers understand which items truly belong in the compost bin, facilities experience fewer contamination events and can operate more efficiently.

Beyond labeling, the Consortium strengthened data and research on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks, which shift the financial burden of managing packaging waste from municipalities to the companies that produce it. The initiative published a comprehensive EPR reimbursement framework, developed with composters, to guide states and Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) in funding composting infrastructure and recovering compostable packaging. This policy work is critical because without adequate funding mechanisms, many municipalities lack the resources to build or expand composting capacity.

How to Support Composting Infrastructure in Your Community

• Advocate for municipal composting access: The Consortium's work expanded organics recycling access to nearly 240,000 U.S. households through a $200,000 grant program launched in 2025 with BPI and USCC, funding eight municipal and composter-led projects focused on access, capacity, and education. Contact your city council or waste management department to ask whether your community has a food waste collection program, and if not, request one.
• Learn your local composting standards: Since the Consortium tested compostable packaging across six different composting technologies, performance varies by facility type. Check with your local composting facility to understand which compostable items they accept and which they reject, then adjust your purchasing and disposal habits accordingly.
• Support labeling transparency: When purchasing packaged foods, look for clear compostability labeling that indicates the item is certified for your local composting facility type. Avoid items with vague or unclear labeling, as these are more likely to cause contamination problems at composting facilities.

The scale of the Consortium's impact demonstrates the power of cross-sector collaboration. Over five years, the initiative worked with more than 50 stakeholders across the composting value chain, including brands, composters, municipalities, nonprofits, industry groups, and academic institutions. This network published 11 industry-shaping research reports and expanded access to organics recycling for nearly 240,000 additional households, bringing food waste and compostable packaging collection within reach for at least half a million more Americans.

In 2024, the Consortium launched the Composter Innovator Program and Municipal Partner Platform to elevate operator and city leadership voices in Extended Producer Responsibility policy and composting infrastructure best practices. These initiatives recognize that the people running composting facilities and managing municipal waste systems have critical insights that should inform policy decisions at the state and federal levels.

The research also revealed that real-world composting conditions differ significantly from laboratory conditions, which is why the Consortium's field testing was so valuable. By testing materials in actual facilities rather than controlled environments, researchers could measure how factors like temperature fluctuations, moisture levels, and microbial activity affect disintegration rates. This variability had previously been a source of frustration for both composters and packaging manufacturers, who often disagreed about whether a material was truly compostable.

Looking ahead, the open-source disintegration database established from the Consortium's findings will allow manufacturers, composters, and regulators to access real-world performance data without conducting redundant tests. This shared knowledge infrastructure could accelerate the development of better compostable materials and help municipalities make informed decisions about which packaging materials to accept in their programs. As more Americans gain access to composting services and more states adopt labeling standards and Extended Producer Responsibility policies, the data and frameworks developed by the Composting Consortium will become increasingly valuable for scaling organics circularity nationwide.