Zhongxin supplies international packaging groups and serves end-use applications for leading foodservice, retail, and supermarket brands.
Australian and New Zealand buyers increasingly ask bagasse tableware suppliers for ABA certification to AS 4736 or AS 5810. This guide explains what those two standards actually cover, which six fields on an ABA certificate decide whether your SKU is included, and how to verify a supplier’s claim before you place an order.
Quick answer: ABA certification is issued by the Australasian Bioplastics Association against two different Australian Standards. AS 4736 covers commercial (industrial) composting and allows the ABA Seedling logo; AS 5810 covers home composting and allows the ABA Home Compostable logo. Certification belongs to a named organisation, and each certificate describes a specific product scope — substrate, barrier system, colour, product categories and a maximum thickness or grammage — with a validity period that must be renewed. A supplier holding an ABA certificate therefore does not automatically mean every SKU in their catalogue, every production site, or your own private-label brand is covered. Buyers should verify six fields: certificate holder, standard, product description, licence number, validity dates and the logo or claim being made.
Molded fiber tableware sold into Australia and New Zealand is usually marketed against landfill diversion targets, so buyers need evidence that supports a compostability claim rather than a generic “eco” statement. In practice, procurement teams in the region ask three questions in the same email: whether the products are ABA certified to AS 4736 or AS 5810, whether the items are PFAS-free with written confirmation, and what the MOQ and sample terms are for standard (non-custom) items. Those three questions map to three different kinds of evidence, and mixing them up is where sourcing mistakes start.
Compostability certification is not a food-contact document and not a PFAS test report. It verifies that the product meets a disposal-end standard under defined conditions. If you need the full document map, our guide to what each document actually proves separates certification, testing and declaration evidence.
The Australasian Bioplastics Association runs two relevant verification programmes, plus soil biodegradable and biobased schemes that buyers sometimes confuse with them:
Two programme rules matter to buyers. First, ABA states that certification to AS 4736 and AS 5810 applies to products that actively divert food waste from landfill by delivering measurable organics recycling outcomes; applications can be declined where composting is not the appropriate disposal route, and ABA has flagged that renewals may be withheld for products that do not meet those guidelines. Second, ABA does not act as the testing laboratory: it states that it does not assess product test results directly, and that an independent auditor reviews the documents and samples to determine what testing is required. A certificate is therefore a verified conclusion, not a raw test report — and you should still expect the test reports behind it to be traceable.
A certificate issued for one market does not automatically transfer to another. The comparison below is the version to keep next to your specification sheet, because buyers who accept “we are compostable certified” as a single answer usually discover the mismatch at tender stage.
| Scheme or standard | Composting condition it addresses | Primary market where buyers ask for it | What the buyer still has to confirm |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABA AS 4736 (Seedling logo) | Commercial / institutional composting | Australia and New Zealand | Certificate holder, product scope, validity dates, whether your SKU and colour are listed |
| ABA AS 5810 (Home Compostable logo) | Home composting | Australia and New Zealand | Whether the item is home-certified at all, and whether accessories such as lids and cutlery are inside the same scope |
| BPI certification (ASTM D6400 / D6868) | Industrial composting, North American programme | United States and Canada | Live listing in the official BPI product catalog, matched to company, SKU and status |
| EN 13432 / OK compost INDUSTRIAL | Industrial composting, European framework | European Union and UK-recognised schemes | Which body issued the certificate, licence number and the certified material structure |
| OK compost HOME | Home composting, European scheme | European Union | Whether the certificate is still inside its validity period and covers the same barrier formula |
If you are comparing these for a US or EU program rather than an AU/NZ one, start with our compostable packaging certification guide and the EU-specific EN 13432 and OK compost buyer page instead of assuming an ABA certificate satisfies either.
ABA issues a certificate of conformance for a named organisation, and the wording on that certificate is narrower than most buyers expect. The six fields below are the ones that decide whether your order is covered. For transparency, the table that follows it shows the ABA certificates currently held by our group exactly as they read on the certificates, so you can see the format you should expect from any supplier.
| Field on the certificate | What it tells you | Buyer action |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate holder / legal entity and address | Which company and which registered site the verification applies to | Match it against the invoicing entity and the factory that will actually produce your order. Group companies and multiple bases are not interchangeable. |
| Standard cited (AS 4736 or AS 5810) | Commercial versus home composting conditions | Confirm the standard matches the disposal claim you intend to publish. |
| Product description and scope | Substrate, barrier system, colour, product categories, and whether items are unprinted, uncoloured or uncoated | Read it as a whitelist. Anything not described — a printed version, a new colour, a different lid — needs its own evidence. |
| Maximum thickness or grammage | The physical limit the verification covers, often stated in micrometres or gsm | Compare it with your specification. A heavier-gauge version of the same tool can fall outside the scope. |
| Licence / certificate number | The record identifier quoted on documents and correspondence | Record it on the purchase order so the same number can be re-checked at each reorder and audit. |
| Validity dates | The current certification period; ABA certificates in our records are renewed on an annual cycle | Check the end date, not the issue date. Re-check before each new contract or tender. |
The following rows are the ABA certificates held by Zhejiang Zhongxin Environmental Protection Technology Group Co., Ltd. (registered address: No. 1 Yongsheng Road, Yongchang District, Lanxi, Zhejiang, China), transcribed from the certificates themselves. Note how the scope changes with the barrier system, colour and product category — that variation is the normal state of compostability certification for molded fiber, not an exception.
| Licence no. | Standard | Scope as written on the certificate | Current validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABAP 10417 | AS 4736 (commercial) | Bleached and unbleached molded pulp tableware, uncoloured / unprinted / uncoated; bleached up to 0.77 mm / 559 gsm, unbleached up to 0.81 mm / 559 gsm | 9 Feb 2026 – 8 Feb 2027 |
| ABAP 10596 | AS 4736 (commercial) | Bleached and unbleached molded tableware — plates, trays, clamshells, bowls — unprinted / uncoloured / uncoated, up to 1500 µm | 30 Jul 2026 – 29 Jul 2027 |
| ABAP 20450 | AS 5810 (home) | Bleached and unbleached molded tableware — plates, trays, clamshells, bowls and lids — unprinted / uncoloured / uncoated, up to 1500 µm | 30 Jul 2026 – 29 Jul 2027 |
| ABAP 10601 | AS 4736 (commercial) | JOYFULOCEAN-2 and JOYFULOCEAN-5 bleached / unbleached molded pulp tableware — plates, clamshells, trays, bowls — unprinted / uncoloured / uncoated; ≤ 840 µm / 507 gsm and ≤ 890 µm / 822 gsm | 31 Jul 2026 – 30 Jul 2027 |
| ABAP 20455 | AS 5810 (home) | Same JOYFULOCEAN-2 / JOYFULOCEAN-5 scope, home composting | 31 Jul 2026 – 30 Jul 2027 |
| ABAP 10602 | AS 4736 (commercial) | JOYFULOCEAN-6 bleached molded pulp tableware — plates, clamshells, trays, bowls — unprinted / uncoloured / uncoated, ≤ 930 µm / 804 gsm | 31 Jul 2026 – 30 Jul 2027 |
| ABAP 20456 | AS 5810 (home) | Same JOYFULOCEAN-6 bleached scope, home composting | 31 Jul 2026 – 30 Jul 2027 |
| ABAP 10600 | AS 4736 (commercial) | JOYFULOCEAN-3 unbleached molded pulp tableware — plates, clamshells, trays, bowls — unprinted / uncoloured / uncoated, ≤ 630 µm / 483 gsm | 31 Jul 2026 – 30 Jul 2027 |
| ABAP 20454 | AS 5810 (home) | Same JOYFULOCEAN-3 unbleached scope, home composting | 31 Jul 2026 – 30 Jul 2027 |
Three details in that table are worth reading twice, because they are the ones that most often surprise buyers:
A certificate names one legal entity and one registered address. Large molded fiber groups commonly produce the same SKU family at several bases, and each base may hold its own certificates, testing reports and audits. If your program may shift between China and Thailand production, ask which entity holds which certificate and confirm the producing site for each order — our China versus Thailand sourcing guide covers the origin-planning side of that decision.
ABA answers the question directly in its programme FAQ: if a supplier is certified, that does not mean the buyer is certified. Only organisations whose products have been verified under the programme may claim certification. Where a product is already verified, ABA treats sublicensing under its verification programmes as the normal route for a brand that wants the claim under its own name, and advises applicants to tell ABA about pre-existing certifications to Australian Standards before submitting an application. Budget the sublicensing step into your launch plan instead of assuming your supplier’s certificate transfers with the goods.
A certificate supports the specific disposal claim of the specific standard behind it. “Certified to AS 4736” is a commercial-composting statement; presenting the same product as suitable for backyard composting is an AS 5810 question. Australian and New Zealand consumer-law expectations around environmental claims apply to the wording on your pack and website, so let the certificate scope write the claim, not the other way round.
Most certification problems in ongoing supply are not caused by a fake certificate; they are caused by a specification that moved. ABA notes that changing the product description on a certificate of conformance is a formal application process rather than an administrative edit, and that the testing route is determined by an independent auditor. Practically, that means a change you treat as minor can require new verification.
Compostability change-control triggers to put in writing with your supplier
Ask for advance written notification on each of these, with the revised certificate or test evidence before the affected order ships. The same notification clause works well next to the quality gates in our sample-to-pre-shipment inspection workflow.
Use this as a five-step sequence between RFQ and first shipment. It works with any supplier, and it is short enough to paste into a procurement SOP.
Copy-ready RFQ wording:
“For each quoted item, please provide: (1) the ABA licence number and the standard cited (AS 4736 or AS 5810); (2) the certificate holder’s legal name and registered site; (3) the full scope wording, including product categories, colour, printed or unprinted status and maximum thickness or grammage; (4) the current validity dates; (5) written PFAS status and food-contact documentation; and (6) your notification process if any of these change during our supply agreement.”
Australian buyers who also serve US customers usually need both programmes documented, and the verification mechanics differ: ABA evidence is a certificate of conformance with a licence number and scope wording, while BPI evidence is checked against the live BPI product catalog. Our step-by-step BPI verification guide covers the second path, including how to match company, product and SKU, and the official registry checklist shows where each scheme is verified. For the chemistry question that usually arrives in the same email, the PFAS-free verification guide sets out what written confirmation and total-fluorine testing should look like.
As a molded fiber manufacturer and export supplier, we can supply ABA certificate copies for the barrier systems and product categories listed above, together with product specifications, carton and CBM data, food-contact and PFAS documentation, and samples for your own validation. Our certification portfolio and certificate and report library summarise the documents we hold, and MOQ, mold and sample terms are explained in the MOQ and lead time guide.
AS 4736 covers commercial composting conditions and is verified through the ABA Commercial Compostable Verification Programme, which authorises the ABA Seedling logo. AS 5810 covers home composting and is verified through the ABA Home Compostable Verification Programme, which authorises the ABA Home Compostable logo. A commercial-compost certificate does not by itself support a home-compostable claim, so check which standard the certificate cites before you write pack copy.
No. They are different schemes operated by different bodies for different markets: ABA for Australia and New Zealand, BPI as the North American industrial composting certification checked against the official BPI product catalog, and EN 13432 / OK compost for Europe. Suppliers that serve multiple regions may hold several of them, but each one only supports the claim of its own standard and scope.
Not automatically. Each certificate describes a specific product scope — substrate, barrier system, colour, product categories and a maximum thickness or grammage. Items outside that wording, such as an unlisted lid, a printed version, a new colour or a heavier gauge, need their own verified evidence. Match the scope line against your specification, not against the supplier’s catalogue cover.
ABA states that supplier certification does not make the buyer certified: only organisations whose products have been verified under the programme may claim it. Where a product is already verified, ABA points to sublicensing as the normal route and advises disclosing pre-existing certifications to Australian Standards before applying. Treat sublicensing as a project task with its own lead time.
Yes. ABA certificates carry validity dates and are renewed on a cycle — the certificates in our own records are issued on an annual renewal rhythm. Buyers should check the end date rather than the issue date, and re-verify before a new contract, tender or reorder rather than relying on a file saved last season.
Yes, but the two facts need separate documents. Compostability certification addresses disposal behaviour; PFAS status is normally demonstrated by written confirmation plus testing such as total fluorine analysis. Ask for both, and check that the same product description and barrier system appear in each document — a PFAS-free declaration for one formula does not automatically describe the formula inside a compostability certificate.
Certification is a claim-support and market-access requirement rather than a blanket legal licence: it becomes necessary when you or your customer makes a compostability claim, supplies an organics-waste program, or responds to a retailer or foodservice tender that requires third-party verification. Where an exact regulatory position matters, confirm it against the current Australian Standard and the relevant authority rather than a supplier statement.
If you are sourcing bagasse or molded fiber tableware for an Australian or New Zealand program, tell us the SKUs, colours, printed or unprinted status, barrier requirement, target grammage and the claim you need to support. We will send the ABA certificates that match that scope, product specifications, carton and CBM data, PFAS and food-contact documentation, and samples for validation. Request certification documents, specifications and a quote — or start from the bagasse tableware range, the compostable clamshell containers and the food-packaging hub.
