SATRA publishes compostability specification
Considering the work behind SATRA’s new guidance on this developing topic.
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In recent years, SATRA has published a number of articles considering the potential for compostable footwear, most recently ‘Are compostable shoes the future?’ in the April 2024 issue of SATRA Bulletin. While this is still something of a niche area, many companies are actively working to understand what the impacts of their products are at the end of their useful lives.
Organisations which are successful in developing compostable footwear, materials and components may wish to demonstrate this by having those items certified as ‘compostable’. However, existing compostability specifications have all been developed specifically for plastics and packaging items (for example, compostability logos can often be found on single-use takeaway coffee cups), and these documents are unlikely to have materials typically used in footwear production included in their scope – nor, of course, finished footwear.
New SATRA certification
SATRA has recently introduced and issued our first certification to our own specification intended for biomaterials (including leather) and tanning systems. This certification is based on existing compostability specifications such as EN 13432:2000 – ‘Packaging. Requirements for packaging recoverable through composting and biodegradation. Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging’. It is important to note that in order to certify that a particular tanning system can be used to produce compostable leather, examples of leather which has been tanned using that system would need to be tested.
To achieve SATRA’s certification, the item being assessed must meet certain stringent criteria. These are:
- ‘characterisation’ – checking the item being assessed for the presence of harmful substances
- ‘disintegration’ – verifying that the item breaks down into smaller pieces
- ‘biodegradability’ – confirming that the item releases CO2 as it breaks down
- ‘compost quality’ – showing that the compost containing the item being assessed does not cause any harm. This involves plant response testing in line with existing compostability specifications, as well as an ecotoxicity screen. The ecotoxicity screen checks the compost containing the material for harmful substances in accordance with composting standards from around the world
- ‘recognisability’ – if the resulting compost actually looks, smells and feels like compost.
This is a new field of research, and we recognise that further research is needed to understand in more detail the potential future impacts of placing certain materials into a composting environment. There is also a need for cost-effective and time-efficient screening processes to identify materials that are good candidates for compostability certification.
In light of all these challenges and more, SATRA has established a working group with a number of our members across the footwear supply chain – from footwear companies to material and chemical suppliers – to work collaboratively on solutions and to also engage with organisations in the waste management industry.
How can we help?
Please contact eco@satra.com if you are interested in compostability certifications or participating in our working group.
Publishing Data
This article was originally published on page 12 of the December 2024 issue of SATRA Bulletin.
Other articles from this issue »