Australasian Bioplastics Association and DIN CERTCO cooperate in certification

The Australasian Bioplastics Association (ABA) has announced DIN CERTCO of Germany as the technical auditing partner for the certification of conformance to the Australian Standard AS 4736-2006 under the ABA verification program, covering biodegradable plastics suitable for industrial composting.

A cooperation agreement between the two companies was signed by DIN CERTCO Managing Director Robert Zor and ABA President Rowan Williams in the presence of European Bioplastics.

With the agreement, DIN CERTCO ensures the future assessment of applications according to the conformity mark ‘Seedling Australasia’ (commonly known as the ‘looped seedling logo’) issued by the ABA. The agreement will also cover assessment of products and materials destined for home composting in compliance with Australian Standard AS 5810-2010 and, in future, the certification of products or materials claiming bio-based content.

“We are extremely excited to join with DIN CERTCO for the future assessments of products and materials claiming conformance to the Australian Standard,” said Williams. “It is increasingly important to have an internationally recognised partner such as DIN CERTCO to collaborate with, for the Australian and New Zealand markets, for certified compostable products and materials.

“As more communities introduce source separation systems for diverting food waste from landfill, having certified compostable products available that are 100% biodegradable in industrial composting will give consumers and organic waste processors, such as composters, the assurance that the products will completely biodegrade in efficiently run systems.

“The visual logo on these products and materials will be easily recognised and food waste or organic waste contained in these certified products can be easily separated out and diverted from landfill.

“This agreement is a very important and significant step forward for our organisations and can only credibly support compostable materials in our marketplace.”