ABOUT THE CFTP

What is the Compostable Field Testing Program? 

The Compostable Field Testing Program (CFTP) is an international, open-source research platform that enables composters to field test the disintegration of compostable foodware and packaging in their own operations. Operating since 2016, the CFTP has collected data from field trials conducted at compost facilities varying in geography, scale, and processing technologies.

Why does open source field testing matter? 

When food waste becomes compost feedstock, deciding whether or not to accept compostable foodware and packaging comes next. While lab certification is a good starting point for decision-making, performing disintegration testing in-field is a next step to determine how well products do and don’t break down in real-world conditions and processes.

The CFTP is first and foremost a non-profit research and education project. While field testing is an inexact and evolving science, rigor and integrity of scientific inquiry are core to the program's ethos.

PROGRAM GOALS AND BENEFITS

Compostability standards and field testing in North America has been evolving since the 1990s, and the Compostable Field Testing Program adds an important tool in this progression. The CFTP:

  • Helps individual composters identify which compostable product types break down in their systems, and correlate that disintegration to a larger study of operating conditions 

  • Creates an open source database of disintegration results to inform industry, policymakers, packaging brands and consumers 

  • Contributes to standardized test methods iterated through real-world test environments

  • Provides a platform for related research, such as refined and new field testing methods and analyses on the composting process and biodegradation

A History of the CFTP's Test Methods

There are two ways to conduct a disintegration field test. Either test items are contained along with feedstock - the "mesh bag method" - or loose in the pile for the "bulk dose method". 

The mesh bag method used by the CFTP was first published by the US Composting Council in 2013, after trials conducted in San Jose, California. CFTP's co-founder, BSIbio, brought this method to the University of British Columbia, and with federal funding they conducted a three-facility trial in British Columbia. The results were published in a peer-reviewed paper in 2017 (see this on our Resources page). 

This mesh bag method underwent review by technical advisors and has been iterated seven times since it was first released. It formed the basis for the work-in-progress ASTM WK80528 Standard Field Test Method to Assess Disintegration in Defined Real-World Conditions. 

The bulk dose method was first developed by BSIbio in 2014 as a part of the original academic research, designed to enable field testing at an agitated in-vessel tunnel facility which could not use the mesh bag method. Iteration of this method was paused for almost a decade until Closed Loop Partners' Center for the Circular Economy reactivated it and funded its refinement and application in a round of field trials in 2023. 

How We've Collected and Assessed the Data

The basic metrics gathered in a field test are the levels of disintegration for the test items. A critical additional piece of the CFTP's research focus has been tracking operating parameters along with disintegration outcomes for certified compostable items.

Composters are the primary field analysts in this program: administering the test at their site, collecting operating data, performing the final collection of product residuals at the end of the test and recording weight and photos of the residuals. The CFTP project team and its collaborators have been on site to assist in the loading and/or disintegration data gathering several times. 

Historically, data has been collected and submitted in a combination of analog and digital formats. From 2024 onward, data has been submitted in digital formats to streamline collation and analysis. 

Now, the CFTP has worked with the University of Chicago Data Sciences Institute to create an interactive dashboard for public access to the field testing data. This was made possible in part by the 11th Hour Project, a program of The Schmidt Family Foundation.

ENGAGE IN THE RESEARCH

Help bring this data to life! 

The impact of the CFTP's research relies heavily on what the community does with these results. 
We invite you to: 

OUR SINCERE THANKS

The Compostable Field Testing Program was a glint in the eye of a few researchers in 2013. It has since been made possible by the considerable vision and in-kind contributions of its founding leaders, BSIbio Packaging Solutions and the Compost Research & Education Foundation. 

BSIbio Packaging Solutions

BSIbio is a compostable packaging distribution and design company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in 2010 by CEO Susanna Carson and has a house brand, BÉSICS. Finding that compostable plastics were not being accepted by all compost facilities, the company sought to figure out why, spearheading the original academic research and leading the vision, development and implementation of the Compostable Field Testing Program.

Visit BSIbio at https://bsibio.com/ and BÉSICS at https://besics.ca/

The Compost Research & Education Foundation

The Compost Research & Education Foundation (CREF) supports initiatives that enhance the stature and practices of the composting industry by supporting scientific research, increasing awareness, and educating practitioners and the public to advance environmentally and economically sustainable organics recycling. By fostering and co-developing the Compostable Field Testing Program, the CREF is advancing open-source data to bridge the gaps between certified compostable items and compost facility acceptance.

Visit the CREF at https://compostfoundation.org/

COLLABORATION IS CRITICAL FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY


The CFTP has grown and made it to the point of publication through immense collaboration with participating composters, fellow researchers, advisors across the compost and compostable value chain, donors, and funders. 

First and foremost, deepest thanks to all participating composters, as well as the organizations and individuals below who made a particular impact on the Program over its development.

11th Hour Project

University of Chicago Data Sciences Institute (DSI)

US Composting Council (USCC)

Closed Loop Partners' Composting Consortium, An Initiative of Closed Loop Partners' Center for the Circular Economy

Past Technical Advisors (Hilary Near, Rhodes Yepsen, Ramani Narayan, Matt Cotton, Cary Oshins, Frank Franciosi) 

National Science & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

University of British Columbia (UBC)

CFTP Community Composter Working Group

Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)

Food Packaging Institute (FPI)

Participants of ASTM WK80528


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