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Certification

Certification plays a vital role in the development of compostable, biodegradable, bio-based or renewable products.
Only certification by a recognised, independent and competent body allows for clear and reliable conformity marking and provides the market with the confidence it needs, thereby assisting authorities, decision-makers and consumers. 

Beyond the initial certification, certification bodies such as TÜV AUSTRIA OKcert monitor the market to ensure product compliance over time, and may suspend or revoke certificates, or even recall non-compliant products from the market. 
Only products bearing the relevant logos are subject to this surveillance; certification bodies have neither the ability nor the authority to monitor the entire market, which remains the responsibility of the competent authorities

TÜV AUSTRIA can assess and certify products for all of the conformity marks listed below.

The certification process in 8 steps

  1. Anyone can submit products for certification, but not all products are eligible. An ad hoc committee examines the relevance of applications.
  2. If the product is certifiable, a contract is drawn up covering the assessment and certification services and the costs of market surveillance (7).
  3. A first step is to check whether all the necessary information is available.
  4. And, if necessary, to define a test/audit programme.
  5. This is followed by the evaluation phase itself, which ends with a - confidential - report containing all the elements that led to our conclusions.
  6. After an internal quality check, certificate is issued for a limited period of time, and the product is added to the public list of certified products.
  7. The market monitoring stage then begins, during which we check that the products on the market are identical to those initially certified and track down any misuse of our logos. 
  8. When the certificate expires, we contact clients to determine whether it should be prolonged.

Industrial compostability

OK compost INDUSTRIAL

OK compost INDUSTRIAL is the oldest, and probably the best-known, certification scheme.
Since 1995, thousands of products have been certified and bear this logo.

Based on the EN 13432 standard, whose scope of application  limited to packaging has been extended to a wide range of products, it enables certified companies to communicate in a reliable and independent manner.
This scheme also includes a market surveillance phase, which ensures compliance over time.

More about the scheme
How to apply




Seedling logo

The Seedling logo, based on a German standard that was subsequently replaced by the European standard EN 13432 - which remains in effect today - was first issued in 1997.
The certification scheme and logo are the property of the European Bioplastics Association (EUBP), which has entrusted OKcert to carry out the assessment and certification missions since 2012.
As with OK compost INDUSTRIAL, the scope of this scheme has been extended to products other than packaging.

More about the scheme
How to apply

CMCS Industrially Compostable (UK)

Most recently, Renewable Energy Assurance Limited (REAL) launched the Industrially Compostable scheme for the UK market. 
Based on the BS EN 13432 / 14995 standards, this scheme is primarily aimed at compostable finished products in the UK. 
The list of eligible products is set out in section 1.1 of the scheme.

Here again, TÜV AUSTRIA OKcert assisted REAL in developing the scheme and is recognised as its certification body.
More about the scheme
How to apply


HOME compostability

OK compost HOME

Imagined, developed and managed by OKcert in 2003, OK compost HOME quickly became the international benchmark for the certification of home-compostable products.

So much so that several standards (Australian, French and European) have drawn inspiration from it, confirming OKcert’s leadership in this field.

More about the scheme
How to apply

CMCS Home Compostable (UK)

Based on the French standard NF T 51-800, which in itself is a copy of the technical requirements of the OK Compost HOME certification scheme, or the Australian standard AS 5810 (which is also based on OK Compost HOME), REAL Home Compostable Products targets the market for finished products in Great Britain.

More about the scheme
How to apply

Biodegradability in open environment

OK biodegradable MARINE

Launched in 2015, owned and managed by TÜV AUSTRIA OKcert, the OK biodegradable WATER label guarantees the biodegradability in  the sea.
The goal of this scheme is not to promote the discarding of the materials or products that can biodegrade in the marine environment, but to verify the claim of biodegradability of materials or products in the marine environment.

Please note: certification is not a licence to dispose of waste in the natural environment.

More about the scheme
How to apply

OK biodegradable 
WATER

Launched in 1995, owned and managed by TÜV AUSTRIA OKcert, the OK biodegradable WATER label guarantees the biodegradability in  fresh water.

It is a scheme intended primarily for B2B communication, and only a few consumer products are certified.

Please note: certification is not a licence to dispose of waste in the natural environment.

More about the scheme
How to apply

OK biodegradable
SOIL

Launched in 1995, owned and managed by TÜV AUSTRIA OKcert, the OK biodegradable SOIL label guarantees the biodegradability in soil of, primarily, products from the agricultural and horticultural sectors.

It is a scheme intended primarily for B2B communication, and only a few consumer products are certified.

Please note: certification is not a licence to dispose of waste in the natural environment.

More about the scheme
How to apply

Origin of the material

NEW OK renewable

The latest addition to TUV AUSTRIA OKcert’s certification schemes, developed in collaboration with RCI, OK renewable guarantees that certified products contain the declared amount of renewable material. This scheme is based on nine renowned certification schemes.

More about the scheme
How to apply

OK biobased - REVISED

As in many other fields, TUV AUSTRIA has been a pioneer in the certification of biomass-based products.
A new version has been available since 1 January 2026.
OK biobased guarantees the percentage (expressed as a range) of bio-based carbon in the product.

This content is measured using the C14 method.

More about the scheme
How to apply

OK recycled

Developed by TÜV AUSTRIA, this certification scheme enables the recyclable content of products to be declared.

Like OK biobased, it is one of the nine sub-schemes recognised for OK renewable certification.

More about the scheme
How to apply

 





NEN biobased %

Developed and owned by NEN (Netherlands Standardization Institute), this scheme enables the declaration of the bio-based content of finished products.
TÜV AUSTRIA OKcert, having been involved in its development and maintenance, is a recognised certification body.

More about the scheme
How to apply