Hovedemner

This document specifies a testing scheme and requirements for the designation of carrier bags of any materials that are considered to be suitable for the incorporation into well-managed home composting installations run by householders for personal uses. Carrier bags are considered as suitable for home composting only if all the individual components meet the requirements. The following five aspects are addressed: a) characterization; b) biodegradation; c) disintegration during home composting; d) compost quality; e) recognizability. The first four aspects (a) to d)) are assessing the effects on the biological treatment process and the compost made by it. The fifth aspect ensures the recognizability of home compostable carrier bags by the end user. This document forms the basis for the labelling of carrier bags of any material that are considered to be suitable for the incorporation into well-managed home composting installations. NOTE 1 Compliance with the requirements of this document by the carrier bags entering the compost does not necessarily imply that a high-quality compost will be produced. This document covers the home compostability of the carrier bags themselves but does not address regulations that may exist regarding the home compostability of any residual contents. The testing scheme and the requirements specified by this document do not apply to worm composting and/or industrial composting. It does not provide information on the biodegradability of carrier bags ending up in the environment as litter. This document includes a reference to guides to well-managed home composting (Annex E). Compost produced by a private individual is for his own use and not for provision to others, free of charge or in return for payment. This document has no value as a marketing authorization or authorization of use of the final compost. NOTE 2 The testing scheme and evaluation criteria could be the basis for the establishment of suitability to home composting of other products.

This document specifies a method of determining the degree of disintegration of packaging materials when exposed to a laboratory-scale home composting environment. The method is not applicable to the determination of the biodegradability of packaging materials under home composting conditions. Other methods are available for this (e.g. see ISO 14851, ISO 14852 or ISO 14855-1 and ISO 14855-2). Further testing is necessary to be able to claim home compostability.

This document specifies test methods for the determination of the slip resistance of surfaces in the most commonly encountered situations in which pedestrians walk. NOTE It is also possible to use this document for measurements where persons might walk on trafficked areas.

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The parameters and recommendations presented in this standard relate mainly to the material polyamide 12 (PA12). Explicit references are also made to polyamide 11 (PA11). The extent to which these parameters and recommendations can be transferred to other materials must be verified on a case-by-case basis.