Toolkit

Houston Compostable Bags Yard Trimmings Program

The City of Houston established April 5, 2010 as the startup date for the collection of yard trimmings in compostable bags. This webpage explains the Houston program, provides a list of city-approved waste bags, as well as an explanation of how compostable bags work versus regular plastics bags.

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How do I know if a utensil, cup, or plate is compostable in San Francisco?

This City of San Francisco webpage provides residents an overview of identifying compostable foodware and provides links to related information.

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Compostable or not? Your guide to which products and packaging should be composted

Composting has many benefits—reduces waste, lowers greenhouse gas emissions, creates jobs—but at the end of the day, it’s really about one thing: soil. And if you think about it, our future is really about that same thing, our soil. Without healthy soils, we can’t grow the food we need to survive, and countless other organisms will suffer too. This informational webpage includes a 4-step guide to preventing plastics pollution.

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Seattle: The Plastic Bag

Seattle Bag Tax and Styrofoam ban ™; desciption of which types of plastics are banned

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Hennepin County, Minnesota: Organics Recycling

This is an organics recycling pamphlet for residents in Hennepin County with information on putting compostable bags and foodservice ware the organics bin.

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Portland Composts!

This guide helps residents place the proper items in their compost bin and mentions using approved compostable items.

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Biodegradable Plastic: What You Need To Know

This Mother Nature Network online article provides a brief overview of biodegradable plastics needing to be properly managed and not sent to landfill.

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BPI's Certified Compostable Products Catalog

"What is a certified compostable product?" BPI explanation of what products meet their certification requirements, as well as their compostable logo that is displayed on compostable products and packaging so consumers can easily recognize certified compostable products.

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Degradable Plastics: A Recycling Coordinator's Guide to Managing New Types of Plastics

A fact sheet directed toward recycling coordinators that provides answer to questions about plastics with degradable additives, why they don't always degrade, and how to purchase degradable plastic.

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Leduc, Canada: Curbside Cart Collection & Recycling Program

Pages 4 and 5 of this curbside recycling guide from the city of Leduc, Canada discusses recycling organics and using compostable bags.

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Minnesota: Compostable Bags Toolkit

This website provides a description of a compostable bags outreach toolkit, and information on how to comply with the Minnesota law that requires residents to put yard trimmings in a compostable bag.

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Compostable Bag Requirements in Twin Cities Metro

Program-specific background information and sets of FAQs from a Minneapolis-St Paul yard trimmings program. Information on how to determine the difference between compostable bags, where to buy them, and who needs to use them in the city.

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Compostable Plastics And Environmental Marketing Claims

Biocycle's article "Compostable Plastics and Environmental Marketing Claims"

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Curbside Composting Programs in Boulder County

This Eco-Cycle residential flyer describes how to tell if a product is compostable, and explains how BPI Certification/ #7 PLA applies to curbside composting.

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Compostable Plastic: Does It Work in Portland?

PDF Fact Sheet with information on purchasing and discarding compostable plastic items in Portland, OR.

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