Here's what ecommerce and apparel brands selling into the US, UK and EU need to know.

Compostable packaging may still feel like a safe, sensible, sustainable choice. But, while it may still be okay locally here in Australia, it’s not going to be permitted in some significant global markets. If you already ship internationally or have any ambition to sell into the US, UK or EU, the ground is shifting faster than a compostable mailer in a compost heap.

What's changing internationally

Three of the world's biggest packaging markets have moved, within the last year or so, to shrink where compostable claims will be allowed to apply to packaging like mailers, poly bags and garment bags.

The EU has locked in its position through the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation 2025/40). From February 2028, only tea bags, coffee pads and fruit and veg stickers are required to be compostable. The regulation is explicit that biodegradable and compostable packaging "should only be used in clearly defined cases," not as a general-purpose format. Ecommerce mailers and garment bags aren't on that short list.

The UK has gone further and simply closed the door. Under England's Simpler Recycling reforms, any plastic packaging labelled "compostable" or "biodegradable" is explicitly excluded from both the recycling stream and the food waste stream. Not diverted to a special process, just not collected at all. A compostable mailer landing on a UK doorstep currently has nowhere sanctioned to go.

The US is tightening state by state, and the direction is consistent even where the timeline has moved. California's AB 1201 says a product can only be labelled compostable if it qualifies as an allowable input under USDA National Organic Program standards, a bar that most PLA and PHA-based compostable films don't clear. It was due to bite from January 2026, but CalRecycle has since pushed enforcement out to June 30, 2027, because the USDA still hasn't updated its own organic input standards to say which compostable products qualify. That's breathing room, not a reprieve: CalRecycle has said no further extensions will go beyond January 2031, so the direction is locked in even if the date has moved. Washington already requires film bags and mailers to carry ASTM D6400 certification, a certifier logo, specific colour coding and minimum-size labelling, and bans non-compostable bags from using green, beige or brown at all. Other states are following the same playbook: tighter definitions, harder-to-meet criteria, real penalties for getting it wrong.

Why ecommerce and apparel packaging is an exposed category

This isn't a compostable-packaging-in-general story. It's specifically a film packaging story, and that's exactly the format ecommerce mailers, poly bags and garment bags are.

Industrial composting facilities that will accept flexible film packaging are rare even where they exist, and most reject it outright because it contaminates their feedstock and can slow the process down. Home composting is also becoming less common as councils implement FOGO bins for food and garden waste collection and compostable packaging is rarely permitted* in these bins. So a "compostable" mailer very often ends up in landfill or incineration regardless of the label, which is precisely the gap regulators are now closing and litigators are now targeting.

Add in that ecommerce and apparel packaging crosses borders constantly. Packaging specced and printed for the Australian market doesn't stay in Australia if you ship internationally, a compostable claim that's fine in Melbourne can be a labelling violation in Los Angeles and simply meaningless in London.

What to plan for, not just react to

Treat 'compostable' as a shrinking, jurisdiction-specific claim rather than a durable global credential. A few things worth building into your planning now:

• If you sell or plan to sell into the EU, UK or US, design to the strictest market you touch, not the most permissive one. Retrofitting packaging and reprinting claims after a customer complaint or a compliance notice is far more expensive than getting ahead of it.
• EPR fee structures are moving in the same direction as the labelling rules. Eco-modulation (discounted EPR fees) increasingly rewards recyclability and recycled content and under most EPR schemes, compostable film-based packaging attracts the highest levels of EPR fees.

The more durable & sustainable alternative

This is where recycled content, done properly, has the advantage: it isn't reliant on composting infrastructure that often doesn't exist, and recyclability is the direction every major market's EPR and labelling framework is actually rewarding right now.

POLLAST!C is our recycled Ocean Bound Plastic material, and it's built for exactly this shift. It's 100% Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) plastic intercepted before it reaches the ocean. It’s certified Ocean Bound Plastic (OBP) by Zero Plastic Oceans and its PCR content is certified by Global Recycled Standard (GRS). These bags can be substituted for your existing mailers, satchels, poly bags and garment bags with zero operational disruption, no redesign of your packing process, no retraining your warehouse team, same specs your 3PL already knows how to handle.

It's also, in most cases, it’s the more cost-effective path – a POLLAST!C bag will cost less than one the same size made from compostable film. And because recyclability is what's actually being rewarded under eco-modulated EPR schemes in the markets that charge them, POLLAST!C is generally better positioned on ongoing compliance fees too, not just the up-front unit cost. Worth running the actual numbers for your volumes and markets rather than taking our word for it, and we're glad to do that comparison with you.

FAQs

Is compostable packaging being banned?Not outright, anywhere, yet. What's happening is narrower: regulators are shrinking it down to a handful of approved uses (tea bags, coffee pads, produce stickers under the EU's PPWR) rather than treating it as a general-purpose packaging format, and some markets, like the UK, now exclude it from collection entirely.

Can we keep using compostable packaging in Australia?Yes, for now. The catch is that this is a domestic answer. If any of your packaging ships internationally, you need to plan by destination market rather than assuming what works at home travels with it.

What's the difference between industrially compostable and home compostable? Industrially compostable needs a commercial facility with controlled heat, moisture and microbial activity to break down. Home compostable needs to do the same in a backyard bin, a much harder bar. Most flexible film packaging, mailers and poly bags included, is only ever rated industrially compostable, and even then, few facilities will actually accept it, so it often ends up in landfill regardless of what the label promises.

Does any of this affect recyclable or recycled content packaging?No, and that's the point. What's tightening is specifically compostable and biodegradable claims. Recyclability and recycled content are the direction regulation and EPR fee structures are actually rewarding, not restricting.

We've already got compostable packaging in market. What should we do?Start by mapping where it actually ships to. If it's Australia only, you likely have more runway than the headlines suggest. If any of it reaches the EU, UK or a state like California or Washington, get a proper compliance read on your claim and labelling now, before a regulator or a customer flags it for you. We're happy to help you work through that.

Is POLLAST!C recyclable everywhere?It's LDPE-based recycled Ocean Bound Plastic (RIC #4), a widely recognised category, though actual collection access still varies by council and country. Talk to us about labelling for your specific markets, it's exactly the kind of detail we keep across so you don't have to.

How is POLLAST!C different from a bioplastic? Bioplastics like PBAT, PLA and PHA are designed to break down under specific composting conditions. POLLAST!C is made from 100% recycled, certified Ocean Bound Plastic, plastic that already exists and was heading for the ocean. It removes plastic from circulation rather than adding new material that depends on infrastructure most places don't have.

Will switching to POLLAST!C disrupt our current packaging setup?No, that's deliberate. It's made as a drop-in replacement for the mailers, satchels, poly bags and garment bags you're already using; same specs, same 3PL handling, no redesign required.

Compostable packaging isn't dead, and it still has a place, but only here at home in Australia (and New Zealand). If 'compostable' is doing the heavy lifting in your sustainability story and you have any ambition beyond the Australian market, now's the time to have a plan B ready before a regulator, a court, or a customer forces the conversation.

* South Australia is the only state in Australia that broadly accepts certified compostable packaging and bags across its FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) green bins. In all other states and territories, acceptance depends entirely on individual local councils, and most jurisdictions either restrict or outright ban compostable packaging in kerbside green bins