--- title: "We call the product biodegradable or compostable" description: "Directive (EU) 2024/825 names 'biodegradable' as an example of a generic environmental claim, banned since 27 September 2026 unless specified on the same medium or backed by relevant recognised excellent performance. For packaging, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 limits which packaging must or may be compostable and sets the compostable label. Specify the conditions, the standard and the part, or drop the claim." type: "problem" url: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/biodegradable-claim/" markdown: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/biodegradable-claim.md" locale: "en" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-04" author: "Conphora compliance team" publisher: "Conphora" source: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02005L0029-20260927" tags: ["PPWR", "sustainability-claims"] license: "Free to quote with attribution and a link to the page" --- # We call the product biodegradable or compostable Directive (EU) 2024/825 names 'biodegradable' as an example of a generic environmental claim, banned since 27 September 2026 unless specified on the same medium or backed by relevant recognised excellent performance. For packaging, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 limits which packaging must or may be compostable and sets the compostable label. Specify the conditions, the standard and the part, or drop the claim. ## Why this happens 'Biodegradable' and 'compostable' sound precise, but in consumer law they are often generic. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/825, defines a generic environmental claim as one, not included on a sustainability label, whose specification is not provided in clear and prominent terms on the same medium (Article 2(p)). Since 27 September 2026, making a generic environmental claim for which the trader cannot demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim is unfair in all circumstances (Annex I point 4a). [1] The recitals name the words. 'Biodegradable' and 'biobased' are listed with 'eco-friendly' and 'green' as examples of generic environmental claims (recital 9). The directive also says that a claim such as 'biodegradable' could not be made on the basis of the EU Ecolabel where the criteria for the product in question contain no requirements on biodegradability (recital 10). A claim becomes specific when the specification is on the same medium, such as the packaging or the online selling interface (recital 9). [2] A specific claim still has to be true and provable. Under Article 6(1), a claim that deceives about the main characteristics of the product, including its environmental characteristics, is misleading even if factually correct, and under Article 12 an authority or court may require evidence and treat the claim as inaccurate if it is not provided. [1] For packaging, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40, applying from 12 August 2026, decides where compostability belongs. By 12 February 2028, permeable tea, coffee and other beverage bags, soft single-serve units and sticky labels on fruit and vegetables must be compatible with industrial composting standards, and with home composting standards where a Member State requires it (Article 9(1) with Article 3(1), point (1)(f)). Member States that collect such waste with bio-waste and have suitable treatment may require non-metal single-serve units for beverage machines, very lightweight and lightweight plastic carrier bags, and packaging they already required to be compostable before 12 August 2026 to be compostable (Article 9(2)). All other packaging, including packaging made of biodegradable plastic polymers, must be designed for material recycling by 12 February 2028 (Article 9(3)). [3] The PPWR also fixes the wording on pack. From 12 August 2028, or 24 months after the implementing acts, whichever is later, packaging carries a harmonised material label; for packaging under Article 9(1), and where applicable Article 9(2), the label states that it is compostable, not suitable for home composting and not to be discarded in nature (Article 12(1)). The text fixes that wording even where a Member State requires home-composting compatibility under Article 9(1); how the implementing acts resolve this is open. Labels, marks or symbols that are likely to mislead or confuse about packaging characteristics or waste options are prohibited (Article 12(8)). [3] ## How to solve it 1. **List the degradability claims and what they cover** Note each 'biodegradable', 'compostable', 'home compostable' or 'returns to nature' statement, the product or packaging part it refers to, and the images that go with it, such as leaves or soil. 2. **Treat a bare 'biodegradable' as a generic claim** Used alone, 'biodegradable' is a generic environmental claim. It is only allowed if you can show recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to that claim, or if the claim is specified in clear and prominent terms on the same medium. 3. **Specify the claim or remove it** A specific claim says under which conditions the item degrades or composts, for example industrial composting, according to which test standard, within what time, and which part of the product. If you cannot support the conditions, remove the claim from packs and listings. 4. **Check whether your packaging may be compostable at all** From 12 February 2028, tea and coffee bags, soft single-serve units and sticky labels on fruit and vegetables must be compostable in industrially controlled conditions. Member States may require compostability for some further items. Other packaging, including biodegradable plastic, must be designed for material recycling by that date. 5. **Plan the harmonised compostable label** When the harmonised label applies, it must show for compostable packaging that it is compostable, that it is not suitable for home composting, and that it is not to be discarded in nature. Remove symbols that suggest otherwise now: misleading packaging marks are prohibited. ## What you need to show - **Claim wording with the conditions, test standard and part it covers** — Marketing, with the material supplier (Directive 2005/29/EC Article 2(p) and Annex I point 4a) - **Test reports or certificates for compostability under the stated conditions** — The material supplier or a laboratory (Directive 2005/29/EC Article 12) - **Compostability or recyclability evidence in the packaging technical documentation** — The packaging manufacturer (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 9(4) and Annex VII) ## If you do nothing - **A generic degradability claim is banned in all circumstances** — Making a generic environmental claim for which the trader cannot demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim is always unfair (Directive 2005/29/EC Annex I point 4a). 'Biodegradable' is one of the examples (Directive (EU) 2024/825 recital 9). - **The EU Ecolabel does not cover it automatically** — A generic claim such as 'biodegradable' cannot be based on the EU Ecolabel where the product group criteria contain no biodegradability requirements (Directive (EU) 2024/825 recital 10). - **Packaging must be recyclable or allowed to be compostable** — By 12 February 2028, packaging other than the compostable categories, including packaging made of biodegradable plastic, must be designed for material recycling (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 9(3)); misleading packaging marks are prohibited (Article 12(8)). ## Questions ### Is 'compostable' treated like 'biodegradable'? The directive names 'biodegradable' and 'biobased', not 'compostable', as examples of generic claims (Directive (EU) 2024/825 recital 9). Used alone, without the conditions on the same medium, 'compostable' may still be read as generic; that is a reading, not a rule in the text. Stating the conditions and standard makes it specific. ### Can our compostable coffee capsule be put in the bio-waste bin? That depends on the Member State. Non-permeable single-serve units for machines, made of material other than metal, may be required to be compostable where the Member State collects such waste with bio-waste and has suitable treatment (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 9(2)(a)). Check local collection before advising consumers. ### Do compostable plastics count towards recycled content targets? No. Compostable plastic packaging is excluded from the PPWR minimum recycled content requirements (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 7(4)(e)). ### From when must the compostable label be used? The harmonised label applies from 12 August 2028 or 24 months after the Commission's implementing acts, whichever is later (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 12(1)). For packaging under Article 9(1), and where applicable 9(2), it states that it is compostable, not suitable for home composting and not to be discarded in nature. ## Regulations involved PPWR ## Sources 1. [Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices (consolidated text of 27 September 2026)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02005L0029-20260927) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04 2. [Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024L0825) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04 3. [Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32025R0040) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04