Sway backs BPI to accelerate compostable packaging adoption
Key takeaways
- Sway and BPI have joined forces through the 1% for the Planet network, with Sway donating 1% of its annual sales to support building a compostable certification framework.
- The partnership highlights the role of certified compostable packaging as an alternative to conventional plastics.
- The organizations are calling for stronger US policy support and composting infrastructure investment.
Sway, a US-based company developing seaweed-based, home compostable replacements for plastic packaging, and the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), a non-profit authority on certified compostable products and packaging, have partnered through the 1% for the Planet network.
Sway has designated BPI as a recipient of its 1% for the Planet, a financial decision to donate 1% of a company’s annual sales to organizations in the 1% for the Planet environmental partners network.
Julia Marsh, co-founder and CEO at Sway, says: “BPI is doing essential work, building the certification frameworks and market trust that make compostable materials viable at scale.”
“We believe in BPI’s mission and the importance of their certification program, and as Sway grows, we want our success to interlink with the partners and organizations creating real, on-the-ground impact for circularity.”
Accelerating material shift
The companies suggest that, as the need for innovative replacements of conventional packaging is increasingly urgent, certified compostable materials provide a different end-of-life profile.
These materials can be broken down by common microbial life alongside food scraps, allowing the carbon in the materials to re-enter the biological cycle rather than accumulating in ecosystems.
BPI’s certification program tests compostable packaging, examining that materials will meet or exceed American Society for Testing and Materials standards and fully break down in commercial composting environments without leaving behind harmful residues.
Rhodes Yepsen, executive director at BPI, says: “The work that Sway is doing is truly cutting-edge, and their commitment to BPI emphasizes the important relationship between innovation that puts our planet first, and the regulations that ensure its value to the planet.”
“By engaging early and supporting the systems that uphold compostability standards, Sway is helping strengthen the entire ecosystem and demonstrating what responsible innovation looks like in practice.”
Advancing regulatory frameworks
The organizations recognize that policy change is important to scaling compostable solutions across the industry.
Last year, Yepsen told Packaging Insights that compostability remains underrepresented in policy discussions despite the industry’s overall focus on sustainability.
In response, Sway and BPI are set to work alongside legislators, waste haulers, and industry partners to push for regulatory frameworks that will accelerate the adoption of certified compostable packaging nationwide.
Matthew Mayes, chief operations officer at Sway, comments: “Certified compostable products are only as impactful as the policy frameworks that support them. Legislation that mandates or incentivizes the use of certified compostable packaging, and that invests in the composting infrastructure to match, is essential to unlocking the full potential of materials like ours.”
“Our partnership with BPI is a direct investment in the organizations doing the hard work of building those standards. The science is clear, now we need policy to catch up.”
