Sustainability firmly secured

The Compost Bag Company develops and produces compostable products in an environmental friendly way. Our bags and films offer a quality alternative for traditional, non-degradable products that take centuries to disappear.

The Compost Bag Company aims at reducing the vast amounts of plastics waste by introducing alternatives that are more environmentally friendly. We use natural and renewable raw materials to make certified fully compostable products. The production process is designed to have a minimal impact on the environment. We do not compromise when it comes to the quality of our products ad of the way we produce them.

Strong moral values

The Compost Bag Company operates in an institutional, economic, politic, social and cultural context of wide variety, which in addition is characterized by constant change. All business activities must be carried out within the limits of the law and in accordance with the principles of fair competition, in all honesty and integrity, and with respect for the legitimate interests of customers, employees and shareholders, commercial and financial partners and those of society as a whole and the natural environment in which the company operates. Everyone at The Compost Bag Company, without distinction or exception, is committed to these principles and expects the same from his/her partners and business contacts. The corporate interest can never be invoked as justification for behavior that is inconsistent with these principles.

We seek to not only adhere to these ethics, but to champion them as well. We recognise our role in eradicating modern slavery, and we registered with the Living Wage organisation to certify all employees and subcontractors receive fair pay. We have flexible and family friendly working agreements and regularly examine our supply chain for similar ethics, any safety or legislative incidents, and environmental impact.

Cradle-to-cradle through organic recycling

Our compostable bags and films form part of a discrete cradle-to-cradle concept – raw materials from plants, energy from nature, bags to help people recycle organic waste, that gets composted and treated, as a certified soil imrpover, used in agriculture to frow plants. Fully circular resourcing

Very clever use of chemistry

There is no compromise in the sustainability of our supply chain. The raw material for our bags and films is Mater-Bi by the Italian world leaders in bio-chemistry Novamont.

One important component of our compostable plastic is derived from cardoon seed oil. Cardoon is a kind of thistle, an endemic weed in the Mediterranean. Generations of local farmers have tried to destroy it ; yet, today, they grow it for its seeds that are rich in oil. The plants thrive on dry marginal land, inadequate for food or feed production, and do not require irrigation or fertilisation. From the cardoon seed oil, azelaic acid – a main chemical building block of our raw material – is derived through biorefinery. But that’s not all ! The “cake” of crushed cardoon seeds goes back to the farmers to feed herds of goats. The dry leaves and stems of the cardoon plant are incinerated to create the electrical power that drives the biorefinery. Next to azelaic acid, pelargonic acid and glycerol are derived from the cardoon seed oil. The first is a natural herbicide ; the second finds widespread use in cosmetics, in medical preparations and in food. In short, nothing goes to waste. The cardoon project has provided a new future for a previously declinging area of Sardinia.

Another important component is derived from sugar beet pulp from which most of the sugar has already been extracted. The rest sugar in this waste product from agro-industry is being transferred into bio-butanediol 1,4 by bacteria. The remainder is then used as cattle feed.

Continual improvement

In the production of our bags and films, we thrive to achieve high quality levels in ecologically sustainable processes. We refuse to compromise on the quality of the products that we produce and how we bring them to market. At the factory, since 1997, the yearly external ISO-9001 audits have resulted in renewal of our quality management system certification with flying colours. Since 2004, the same goes for the ISO-14001 certificates on our environmental impact management system. Since 2009, we have been using only 100% renewable energy (coastal wind power) and solvent free inks. In 2012, the zero-emitter status was officially confirmed for industrial waste water (it is all recycled). All production scraps are recycled in house and are reused. Across the companies, the waste hierarchy principles are fulle formed – reducing and re-using resources, FSC certified wood products (e.g. cardboard), local re-use projects, and finally, secondary sort for maximum recycling.

We constantly look for opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of our activities.

Certified properties

Our CompostBags® are certified fully compostable according to BS-EN13432. After a useful life as a bag, often to promote other recycling, they go back to nature through organic recycling (e.g. composting). As proof of such certification, they all bear the OK Compost and/or Seedling mark, which have been attributed by the independent test lab TÜV-Austria. Compost is a valuable soil amendment, improving carbon levels in the soil, improving soil health and porosity (inclusind the vital ability for farmland to hold onto rainwater, and providing important elements for plants to build their structure (e.g. stems, twigs, leaves…). This is part of the normal cycle of natural nutriënts taht has existed as long as life has existed on our planet.

Our agricultural mulch films can often be seen on famland protecting soils against weeds and holding onto water. We developped this conceptfor smaller holdings too. BioGarden® mulch film is not only compostable on the surface ; it also biodegrades in the soil. In that way, after the growing season shreds of film can be worked into the soil where they will biodegrade within 24 months. This was also certified by TÜV-Austria who allowed us to print their OK Biodegradable SOIL mark.