Certification process
For industrially compostable certification, the product requirements and procedures are specified in the certification scheme document 'REAL Industrially Compostable Products', which can be downloaded here.
For home compostable certification, the product requirements and procedures are specified in the certification scheme document 'REAL Home Compostable Products', which can be downloaded here.
Certification marks
Once a product has been certified, it must be marked with the applicable trademark registered certification mark(s) shown below. These are the REAL Home Compostable and REAL Industrially Compostable marks.
Licensing
The requirements for the licensee can be found in the licence agreement. This agreement sets out the terms and conditions for use of the REAL compostable certification marks.
The licence agreement is valid for the period of certificate validity, assuming the products remain compliant.
Verification
A certificate is issued with a period of validity (5 years) and during this time, samples of the product are required to be tested and assessed.
The products are tested by means of IR spectroscopy and chemical characterisation testing. IR testing takes place annually and chemical characterisation testing takes place once during the period of certificate validity.
Fees
The fees for the certification process are charged by the certification bodies and the fees for the licence to use the certification marks are charged by the scheme owner. These can be found in the Schedule of Fees here. If testing is required, fees are also charged by recognised laboratories. These are not specified in the fee schedule.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions can be found here.
