Compostable (Seedling / OK Compost)
Check locally →Industrially compostable: usually can't go in your home compost or recycling bin.
Which bin?
Check if your council accepts compostable packaging in food waste. If not, general waste. Never put in recycling.
What does it mean?
The seedling logo (or "OK Compost") means the packaging will break down in an industrial composting facility, not in your garden compost heap, and definitely not in your recycling bin (it contaminates plastic recycling). Unless the symbol specifically says "HOME" compostable, it needs the high temperatures of industrial composting. Some councils accept compostable packaging in food waste bins, but many don't. Check your council's guidance. If in doubt, general waste is safer than contaminating your recycling or food waste.
What councils’ food waste lists say about compostable items
Of the 182 councils we have checked, 25 name compostable items in their food waste lists: 4 among what goes in the food waste bin, and 22 among what does not. 1 of them does both. In each council’s own words:
Among what goes in
- Causeway Coast and Glens: “Fully compostable liners”
- Cheshire East: “Compostable caddy liners”
- Milton Keynes: “Compostable caddy liners and cups”
- Stevenage: “Compostable caddy liners”
Among what does not go in
- Bedford: “Coffee pods, disposable cups, cutlery, compostable packaging”
- Bristol: “Compostable packaging”
- Canterbury: “Compostable cups or plates”
- Chichester: “Compostable and biodegradable products (except liners)”
- City of London: “Packaging and compostable items”
- Cornwall: “Compostable takeaway cups, plates and bowls”
- Fenland: “Compostable or biodegradable liners”
- Glasgow: “Compostable packaging”
- Greenwich: “Compostable packaging”
- Hastings: “No. We are only able to collect food waste contained in the approved compostable liners with the seedling logo on”
- Manchester: “Compostable packaging”
- Mid Sussex: “Compostable containers or cutlery”
- Milton Keynes: “Items labelled 'compostable' without EN13432 or Seedling logo”; “Plastic, other than certified compostable bags”
- North Lanarkshire: “Compostable take-away containers”
- Oxford: “Garden waste or food packaging (even if it's compostable)”
- Portsmouth: “Compostable cutlery”; “Compostable packaging”
- Reading: “Compostable packaging”
- Somerset: “Compostable packaging”
- Tameside: “Compostable packaging”
- Thurrock: “Packaging, even if compostable”
- Westminster: “Packaging, including compostable”
- Wolverhampton: “Compostable or biodegradable plastics”
Frequently asked questions
What does the Compostable (Seedling / OK Compost) symbol mean?
Industrially compostable: usually can't go in your home compost or recycling bin.
Which bin do items with this symbol go in?
Check if your council accepts compostable packaging in food waste. If not, general waste. Never put in recycling.