What Are TÜV Austria Compostable Bags?

TÜV Austria is an independent testing and certification company. Its OK compost marks cover specified composting conditions. For home composting, check that the product has a home-compost certification and that your dedicated pet-waste composter accepts it.

For the wider picture of compostable bags as a category, start with Compostable pet waste bags: what certification means. This page is about the certifier and the mark.

Who TÜV Austria is

TÜV stands for Technischer Überwachungsverein, German for Technical Inspection Association. The TÜV groups started in the 1800s inspecting steam boilers so they would stop exploding. TÜV Austria dates from 1872 and today tests and certifies everything from elevators and pressure vessels to consumer products.

The OK compost marks are run by its Belgian arm, TÜV Austria Belgium. The marks were created in Belgium in the 1990s by a certifier called Vinçotte, and TÜV Austria took over that business in 2017. OK compost HOME was the first home-composting certification of its kind, and Australia, France, and later the EU based their own home-compost standards on it.

The point for you as a buyer: the lab result is the lab result. A brand cannot write its own certificate.

The two OK compost marks

• OK compost INDUSTRIAL covers a managed composting facility: high heat (around 58°C), controlled moisture, turned and aerated. It is built on the European standard EN 13432. Municipal and commercial composters run at these conditions.
• OK compost HOME covers a backyard pile: ordinary outdoor temperatures (roughly 20 to 30°C), no active heating, over a longer test window. It is the harder mark to earn because cool piles work slowly.

An industrial-only certification does not establish home compostability. Most US municipal and commercial composting programs do not accept pet waste. Check the system’s accepted inputs as well as the bag’s certification.

What the OK compost HOME test checks

In general terms, a product has to pass every one of these to carry the HOME mark:

1. The whole product. The lab tests the bag as sold, including ink and any additives, at a stated thickness. Change the material or go thicker than the certificate allows and the certificate no longer applies.
2. Disintegration. The bag has to physically fall apart into small pieces within the test window at backyard temperatures. Pieces that stay recognizable fail.
3. Biodegradation. Microbes have to convert the material into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass, measured against a reference material such as cellulose. Fragmenting into plastic dust does not count.
4. Compost quality. The finished compost is used to grow plants next to a control batch. If the plants do worse, the product fails.
5. Limits on harmful substances. Heavy metals and other regulated substances have to stay under set limits.

The standard sets the timelines and the pass marks. We are not going to quote them as a result for our bag, because a lab result is not a promise about your composter in February. The certificate tells you the bag passed the test. What happens in your yard depends on your yard.

What the mark does not mean for dog poop

The mark certifies the bag. It does not certify the poop or your disposal route. Three things it never means:

• It does not predict what will happen in the trash. A compostability certificate covers specified composting conditions, not landfill conditions. Choose a bag for thickness, leak protection and the disposal route you actually use.
• It does not mean your city will take it. Most US municipal and commercial composting programs reject pet waste because of pathogens. The bag does not change that rule.
• It does not mean dog poop is safe in garden compost. Dog waste can carry E. coli, roundworm, and Giardia, and a cool backyard pile does not kill them. Dog poop goes in a dedicated pet-waste composter, kept separate from garden compost. The finished compost goes on non-food plants only, never on anything you eat.

For home composting, use a dedicated pet-waste composter kept apart from garden compost. Choose a system that expressly accepts both pet waste and the bag you use. An in-ground digester is not automatically a bag-composting system. Follow the manufacturer’s accepted-input instructions. Read our pet-waste composting guide.

How to check a certificate is real

Every OK compost mark carries a code, and every certificate has a serial number. Two things worth knowing:

• The code printed inside the mark on packaging is the brand's TÜV Austria company number. Ours is S2460. That number identifies us as a certificate holder. It is not the certificate itself.
• The certificate serial is a separate number that names the exact product and thickness tested. Ours is in the product block below. TÜV Austria keeps a public list of certified products, so you can look it up.

If you cannot find the certifier, certificate or product coverage, ask the brand for those details before relying on the claim.

Common questions

Is TÜV Austria a government agency?

No. It is a private, independent company, accredited to run tests and issue certificates. Its lab results do not depend on who pays for the test.

Does TÜV Austria certify the dog poop too?

No. The certificate covers the bag. Dog waste carries pathogens no bag can fix, which is why it only belongs in a dedicated pet-waste composter and why the finished compost stays off food plants.

Is a TÜV Austria certified bag better than a "biodegradable" bag?

A label alone does not establish certification or tell you where a bag can go. Check the specific standard, the product it covers and the disposal conditions. Certification also does not establish what will happen in the trash.

Can I put a TÜV Austria certified poop bag in my city green bin?

Almost always no, because of the dog poop inside, not the bag. Most US programs do not accept pet waste. Check your program's rules in writing before assuming.