Compostable Cups Are Great, but the US Has No Place to Compost Them

You've popped into your nearest coffee shop and ordered your go-to drink. It's handed over, only this time, something's different. The cup it's in feels a little grittier than before, or perhaps it's a new size or shape. You look closer and see a tiny print on the bottom reading "compostable." Great, you think. I'm doing something good for the world.

And yes, you are. Sort of.

In February, Starbucks rolled out commercially compostable cups for their cold drinks in a small number of locations across 14 states in the United States in order to meet the legal requirements of those places to do so.

"We’ve set an ambitious goal for our cups to be 100% compostable, recyclable, or reusable; sourced from 50% recycled materials; and made using 50% less virgin fossil fuel derived sources by 2030," the coffee giant shared in a statement. "In the U.S. and Canada, we’re rolling out a more sustainable and accessible cold cup made with 10-20% less plastic—just one way we’re driving single-use packaging innovation.”

Again, this is overall great news. But before you get too excited, there are a few things you need to know about all compostable cups — and the responsibility that comes with them.

What's the difference between recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable?

The term "compostable" is much more specific than you think. "Compostability is a smaller circle within biodegradability," Garrett Benisch, director of design development at Bioforcetech Corporation, shared with Food & Wine. "If something is compostable, it means that it can break down to much less harmful parts in the right environment."

Elevate Packing adds to this definition by explaining that compostable materials break down completely into their "basic parts," which include water, carbon dioxide, and biomass, at a rate "consistent with similar organic materials and will not release harmful residue or toxins."

As Benisch shared, everything that is compostable is also biodegradable — something that's biodegradable will break down in nature without the help of anything other than bacteria. However, the timeline of when biodegradable things will break down is wildly inconsistent — anything from a few years to thousands. A plastic bag may be labeled as biodegradable, as it could break down into smaller pieces over time, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will disappear entirely or safely and could leave behind microplastics that linger in the environment, contaminating water and soil forever.

Compostable items, on the other hand, are designed to break down into organic matter under specific conditions, leaving behind nutrients that benefit the soil. But — and this is key — they require the right conditions to do so effectively. (More on that in a second.)

Related: Thousands of Amazon Shoppers Rave About These 8 Tools for Stink-Free Composting

Then, there are recyclables. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), "recyclable" in the U.S. includes the "reuse, reconditioning, and remanufacturing of products or parts in another product." It also defines "recycled content" as "products and packages that contain reused, reconditioned or remanufactured materials, as well as recycled raw material." This includes a wide range of materials, including glass, paper, and certain plastics, which can all be processed into new products. However, recycling isn’t as simple as tossing an item into a bin. If an item is dirty, mixed with non-recyclable materials, or made from a combination of materials, it may not be accepted by a recycling facility (i.e., food containers with too many scraps of food residue on them may not be recyclable). Critically, recycled content is neither biodegradable nor compostable; thus, it may never break down completely.

It’s easy to confuse the three, but Benisch says to think of it like this: "A square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square. The rectangle is biodegradable. The square is compostability." Recycling sits outside of both.

Recyclable vs. Compost vs. Biodegradable

Compostable: Materials break down completely into their "basic parts," which include water, carbon dioxide, and biomass, at a rate "consistent with similar organic materials and will not release harmful residue or toxins." 
Biodegradable: The ability of a substance to be broken down physically and/or chemically by microorganisms, per the EPA.
Recyclable: Products that can be collected, processed, and manufactured into new products after they have been used, per the EPA.

What are the key differences between commercially compostable and home compostable items?

There's more nuance in this compostable discussion: Commercial composting vs. home composting. While the end product is the same, they require different techniques to get there.

If something is "home" compostable, you need very little equipment to break it down into soil; think of things like food scraps and grass clippings. These items will break down over a few months or years. However, some products are home compostable too, including Woken Coffee pods and specialty home compostable plates, straws, and trash bags by Good Packaging. However, even with these, you can't just toss everything in a pile in your yard and expect it to break down.

Then there's "commercially compostable," which is a far more regulated process, but it does allow for more composting than at home.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for plastic to be labeled as commercially compostable, it "must be able to be broken down by biological treatment at a commercial or industrial composting facility." This process uses "microorganisms, heat, and humidity to yield carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass that is similar in characteristic to the rest of the finished compost product." And that decomposition must occur  at a rate "similar to the other elements of the material being composted (within six months) and leave no toxic residue that would adversely impact the ability of the finished compost to support plant growth."

To be labeled as commercially compostable, products must meet the U.S. industrial composting standards ASTM D6400 and ASTM D6868, led by the American Society for Testing and Materials. Currently, there are no ASTM standard test methods for home compost.

What happens if it ends up in a landfill?

Spoiler: It’s not good.

According to a 2016 study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, polylactic acid material (PLA), a bioplastic made from corn or sugarcane, can produce "significant quantities of methane" when thrown in a landfill. Live Science pointed to another study that showed PLA products will not break down in a landfill at all — which is better news because they wouldn't produce a ton of methane, but bad news because they won't compost either.

This means that commercial composting only happens if the products end up in the right place, and most commercially compostable products are designed for industrial composting facilities, which reach the high heat and control the microbial conditions necessary for decomposition. As of 2017 (the latest available data), BioCycle reported there are 4,713 commercial composting facilities in the United States. However, the majority of those only accept yard trimmings. According to the U.S. Composting Infrastructure Coalition, "more than 80% of Americans do not have access to food scrap composting."

How much of commercially compostable items actually end up getting composted?

Here’s another hard truth: Not much.

"Right now, about 3% of the country has industrial compost access," Benisch said. So, even if you diligently toss your compostable cup into the right bin, there's no guarantee it will reach a facility that can accommodate it.

And while we need more available composting facilities, right now, just getting the correct bin is a key component. According to a joint study by the Composting Consortium and the Biodegradable Products Institute, about one-third of respondents said they'd put compostable items in their recycling bin, which may seem like the right thing to do; however, Closed Loop Partners explained, "Compostable packaging is not designed to be recycled at a material recovery facility (MRF) and can contaminate the recycling stream if intermixed with fossil fuel-based plastics." Items that do mistakenly end can even impede "the recovery of valuable recyclable materials." Nearly half (49%) of those surveyed also said they had difficulty distinguishing between the terms “compostable” and “biodegradable,” and half (50%) said they'd place something marked "made with plants" in a compostable bin too, which again, could be made from plastic, and is not compostable.

We are in a "chicken and the egg" scenario

Benisch noted that all of this can be frustrating, but that's because we are in a "chicken and egg" scenario. We need more industrial composting, but first, we need more things to compost to show that there is, in fact, a business for it.

"If we don’t have enough supply of cups that need to be managed another way, we're not going to give a business case to create compost facilities," Benisch said.

For now, the challenge is building the necessary infrastructure to match the demand for compostable products. However, the burden is not solely on consumers. Businesses and municipalities must invest in composting programs, and consumers must push for more accessible options. "Customers have been witnessing a different amount of exposure ... the attempts, the failures, and the successes" of composting, Benisch says. And, much like the early days of recycling, composting infrastructure needs time to develop.

Related: 5 Ways to Make a Low or No-Waste Meal

Investing in composting will, of course, help the environment. But it could also help the American economy. Compost Infrastructure pointed to one study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance that found that "composting facilities on a per ton basis sustain two times more jobs than landfills and four times more jobs than incineration facilities." It also pointed to an economic analysis from ReFED that found that "every million tons of processed compost has been estimated to create 1,600 or more additional ancillary service jobs from compost utilization in green infrastructure or agriculture."

Composting could create jobs and save us money. The EPA reported that in 2011, Middlebury College in Vermont saved $100,000 on landfill fees after it composted 90% of the food waste generated on campus.

And if you need a ray of hope, know that there are government officials on the case. In 2023, Rep. Julia Brownley and Senator Cory Booker introduced the Compost Act, which would "establish a grant and loan guarantee program at USDA to expand composting infrastructure, a critical need for regions and communities around the country looking to expand access to food waste composting" to the tune of $2 billion in funding over 10 years, according to the Composting Council. As of now, the bill has only been introduced, but you can voice your support for it here.

So, while compostable coffee cups may not be the perfect solution yet, using them is a vote for better options in the future. "Everything that you do with your dollar and your time in 2025 is going to decide 2028 regulation," Benisch added. "We need change to happen."

How you can do your part.

Learn the labels: Learn the key differences in terms like "made from plants," "compostable," and "commercially compostable," along with which bin each belongs in. (Hint: Don't put compostables in the recycle bin.)

Try composting at home: If you have the space, or if your neighborhood offers composting pickup, try composting at home. A good place to start is composting food scraps. Read more about composting with our guide here.

Support composting legislation: The Compost Act, which would provide $2 billion in funding over 10 years, is still on the table. Voice your support for it here.

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