A pouch that goes back to the soil
Cotton and rice paper with a compostable PLA barrier. Home compostable — no industrial facility, no plastic laminate to peel away.
It has to work on a kitchen counter too
Stands up on its own, reseals with a hidden pocket zipper, and stays quiet in the cupboard — no crinkle, no plastic sheen.
Nothing hidden in the layers
Rice paper, a compostable PLA barrier, a degassing valve, a pocket zipper. Four parts, and they break down together.
The fibre is the finish
Uncoated, unbleached, slightly translucent. You can see the paper — and faintly, what is inside it.
Order a sample, hold it in your hand
Paper feels different in person. We send unprinted and printed samples so you can judge the texture before you commit.
Scroll to open the pouch
Pouch Eco · science-backed sustainability
Sustainable packaging, with receipts.
Every material we sell states its exact standard — Seed logo (industrial) or AS 5810 (home) — and every product page lists what it is not certified for. Start with a $40+ sample kit, credited to your first order.
Seed logo · EN 13432AS 5810 · homeMono-PE #4ASTM D6866 bio-based
Materials Lab
Home Compostable
Recyclable
Industrial Compost
PCR Recycled
Bio-PE
Now playing: Materials Lab
In their words
Why brands switch to factory-direct packaging
Real founders and buyers on working with us — from first sample to 4-week turnaround.
Don't take our word for it — take the certifiers'
Seed logo
Industrial compost · EN 13432 / AS 4736
AS 5810
Home compost — the “AS number under the leaf logo”
FDA 21 CFR 177
Food-contact compliance docs on request
BPI logo?
Needs ~US$3,000/yr sublicense — we flag it before artwork
Trusted by brands who started at 500 units
$40+ kits. Fully credited to your first order.
Fill them with your actual product. Shelf-test them. Then decide — the kit fee comes off whatever you order next.
Click to enlarge
Coffee Starter Kit
6 pouch formats · valves installed · compostable + recyclable + Bio-PE options
Roasters testing 250g–1kg formats
Click to enlarge
Snack & Dry Goods Kit
Stand-up + flat-bottom + 3-side seal · zipper and tin-tie closures
Granola, nuts, treats — fill-weight tested
Click to enlarge
Liquid & Spout Kit
Spout pouches in 3 fitment sizes · leak-tested to 3kg internal pressure
Sauces, oils, purees, refill brands
Materials Lab
Data first. Claims second.
Every material claim below is paired with its boundary. We print what is true — and we state what is not.
Certified Compostable
Kraft/PLA and cellulose builds
Seed logo (EN 13432 / AS 4736) for industrial, AS 5810 for home
Barrier caps at ~70% of foil. We say so on the page.
Limit
Industrial composting requires a facility. Home-compostable (AS 5810) is a different tier. Kraft/PLA won't survive 6+ month shelf life with high-fat contents.
Recyclable Mono-PE
Single-polymer structures
Enters the #4 store drop-off stream whole
Not curb-side. We print "where facilities exist" because that is the truth.
Limit
Not compostable — never. Calling it so would contaminate the organics stream. Mid-barrier; months, not a year.
Bio-PE (Sugarcane)
Same PE molecule, renewable carbon
ASTM D6866 tested bio-based percentage on every spec sheet
85%+ of foil O₂ barrier when laminated
Limit
Not compostable — and we won't let your artwork imply otherwise. "Biodegradable" is a claim we reject on press proof.
PCR Recycled
Post-consumer resin
GRS 4.0 chain-of-custody — the % you print is auditable
30–90% recycled content available
Limit
A recycled-content claim, not a recyclable one. Different axes. Color and clarity vary by batch. Not for direct food contact without FDA testing.
All data from ASTM / ISO / EN test reports. Certification numbers available on request.
Material families, layer by layer
Four families. Four different end-of-life stories.
Every stack is drawn layer by layer, with the family label, the one claim that is legal on pack, and what that family is not certified for. Two pairs get confused most often: compostable splits into a home tier (PBS seal) and an industrial tier (PLA seal), and Bio-PE and PCR are the same kraft-and-metallised-PET laminate that differs only in the sealant resin. Neither of those two carries a compostable or a recyclable claim.
01
Certified Compostable
Compostable — two tiers. Which one you may print follows the sealant, not the look.
The diagram shows the home-compost build. The industrial build is a different film — a metallised PLA barrier and a PLA seal — and carries a different certificate. There is no laminate to peel apart and nothing to sort either way: all three layers go into the same bin as one pouch.
Layer by layer
- Outer
Kraft paper
Your print surface, and the body that lets the pouch stand up empty.
- Barrier
Metallised cellulose
Vapour-deposited aluminium on cellulose — the barrier layer that still composts. Home tier only; the industrial build runs metallised PLA here instead. It is not foil.
- Inner
PBS
Food-contact, heat-sealable compostable seal — and the reason this is the home-compost build. The industrial tier seals with PLA instead.
Which tier you may print
- Home
PBS seal · AS 5810 / OK Compost HOME
Backyard bin, 20–30 °C, roughly 180 days
- Industrial
PLA seal · Seed logo — EN 13432 / AS 4736
Commercial facility, 58–60 °C, roughly 12 weeks
Barrier, as measured
OTR <5 cc/m²·day · WVTR <5 g/m²·day at 120μm (vs foil <0.05)
Claim you can print
Home bin: AS 5810. Industrial: the Seed logo. Name the tier on pack — the two are not interchangeable. (EN 13432 · AS 4736 · AS 5810)
Not this
- Not recyclable. Compostable film in a plastics bin contaminates the batch — one end-of-life story per pack.
- Not one certificate for both tiers. A home-bin claim needs a PBS build; what passes EN 13432 does not automatically pass home composting.
- Not a foil replacement. The best compostable builds reach roughly 70% of aluminium’s oxygen protection.
- Not indefinite. Store flat, cool and dry; use within 12 months of production.
02
Recyclable Mono-PE
Recyclable — single polymer family, so the whole pouch enters one stream.
Every layer is polyethylene, so the pouch reprocesses as one material instead of being separated. The EVOH core adds an oxygen barrier without breaking that.
Layer by layer
- Outer
PE
Print film in the same polymer family as the sealant — which is what makes the whole build recyclable.
- Barrier
EVOH
An ultra-thin oxygen barrier, held under about 5% of structure weight so the pouch still qualifies as PE.
- Inner
PE
Food-contact seal layer. Same polymer as the outer, so no adhesive incompatibility at reprocessing.
Barrier, as measured
OTR <2 cc/m²·day and WVTR <1 g/m²·day with the EVOH core; <8 and <12 without it, at 100–120μm
Claim you can print
Store drop-off #4, printed as “recyclable where facilities exist”. (How2Recycle · stream #4)
Not this
- Not curb-side recyclable anywhere we know of — store drop-off only, and we print that distinction.
- Not compostable. Recyclable and compostable are different end-of-life stories; never blur them on-pack.
- Not a year-long barrier. Mid barrier — months, not years. Step up to metallised if the product needs more.
- Not automatic. The label needs the whole structure qualified, inks and adhesives included.
03
Bio-PE (Sugarcane)
Bio-based — renewable carbon. Not compostable, and not recyclable as this laminate.
Bio-based describes where the carbon came from — sugarcane ethanol instead of fossil feedstock — not where the pouch goes after use. Those are two different claims and this family only carries the first.
Layer by layer
- Outer
Kraft paper
Print surface and body. FSC sourcing available.
- Barrier
Metallised PET
Near-foil moisture and oxygen barrier at a fraction of foil’s weight. This is the layer that makes the build a mixed laminate.
- Inner
Bio-PE
Polyethylene made from sugarcane ethanol — the same PE molecule, renewable carbon, ASTM D6866 tested.
Barrier, as measured
OTR <1 cc/m²·day · WVTR <1 g/m²·day at 150μm — near-foil, ~10–20× more oxygen ingress than true aluminium
Claim you can print
Bio-based percentage (ASTM D6866) — the number you print is the number we test. (ASTM D6866)
Not this
- Not compostable. Bio-based says nothing about biodegradation — be suspicious of anyone who says otherwise.
- Not recyclable. The metallised PET core rules the pouch out of the PE stream.
- Not microwave-safe. Metal layer — no exceptions.
- Not foil-level barrier. Fine for months, not years.
04
PCR Recycled
Recycled content — post-consumer resin. A recycled-content claim, not a recyclable one.
Recycled content and recyclability are separate axes. This structure re-uses post-consumer resin and can prove the percentage — it still cannot be reprocessed once it is laminated.
Layer by layer
- Outer
Kraft paper
Print surface and body. FSC sourcing available.
- Barrier
Metallised PET
Near-foil moisture and oxygen barrier at a fraction of foil’s weight. Same barrier as the bio-based stack.
- Inner
PCR PE
Post-consumer recycled polyethylene under GRS chain of custody. 30–90% recycled content available; colour and clarity vary by batch.
Barrier, as measured
OTR <1 cc/m²·day · WVTR <1 g/m²·day at 150μm — identical to the bio-based stack
Claim you can print
GRS recycled content percentage — auditable back to the resin supplier. (GRS 4.0 chain of custody)
Not this
- Not recyclable. Laminated and metallised structures cannot be reprocessed, whatever the resin inside.
- Not compostable.
- Not bio-based. This is fossil carbon, re-used — a different axis entirely.
- Not automatically food-safe. Direct food contact needs FDA testing on the actual batch.
Barrier figures are typical values from ASTM / ISO / EN test reports on the structures we run, at the thicknesses stated. Certification covers the full structure — not one film — and logo artwork may carry the certifier’s own sublicense fee, which we flag before artwork starts. Certification numbers available on request.
Buyer voices
All 13 voices What buyers say after the first run.
Verified brands — real first orders, real outcomes
“The packaging looks and feels wonderful, matches my design almost perfectly. It's the main thing customers compliment about our products.”
Ruby Mayer
Owner, EMU Elixir
Transcript
Industry words, translated.
“Biodegradable”
Legally meaningless without a standard and a timeframe. We never print it bare.
WE WON'T
“Compostable”
Only valid with the facility type attached: industrial (Seed logo / AS 4736) or home (AS 5810). We print which.
WE PRINT IT
“Eco-friendly”
A vibe, not a claim. Every material page lists what it is NOT certified for.
WE WON'T
“Bio-based”
Where the carbon comes from (sugarcane), not where it goes after use. Verified by ASTM D6866 test.
WE PRINT IT
“Plastic-free”
If it seals like plastic and barriers like plastic, ask what it actually is. We publish full layer stacks.
WE WON'T
“Recyclable”
Valid only with the stream: store drop-off #4 for our mono-PE. Never curb-side. We print that distinction.
WE PRINT IT
Made by a real factory
Shot on our floor. Not stock footage.
Meet us in person
Tear it open at the booth.
Not a slideshow. Finished compostable pouches you can open with your hands, film structures side by side, and spec sheets with every number on them — including the limits.
1/9
Real photos, straight off the hall floor.
Open it, fill it, take it home
Real printed pouches on the counter. Nothing behind glass, nothing you have to ask permission to touch.
The limits, said out loud
EN 13432 and AS 5810 certificates on the table. If a structure will not work for your product, you hear it here — not after the run.
A number before you leave
Size, material, quantity. Quoted on the spot, or in writing within one working day.
Featured Project
Side Gusset Rice Pouch
Balloon-style side gusset with no vertical side-sealing edges. Clear window for product visibility. Matte finish with soft-touch laminate. Designed for rice, grains, and bulk dry goods.
- Recyclable Mono-PE structure — whole pouch enters #4 stream
- Balloon gusset expands uniformly when filled, no corner creases
- Clear window + matte finish + optional foil print
- Laser scoring tear notch for clean consumer opening
- Available in 500g to 5kg sizes
Sample first. Then design. Then scale.
01 · Sample
Touch it before you commit
$40+ kit, ships in 48h, fully credited. Fill it with your product — not our promises.
02 · Design
Free 3D studio, no sign-up
Your dieline is pre-loaded. Mock up your artwork in the browser; a 355ml reference can keeps scale honest.
03 · Produce
500 pcs to start, gravure when you outgrow it
Digital print from 500 pieces, 2–3 weeks DDP. When volume justifies it, we move you to gravure and unit cost drops ~45%.
"First order was 600 bags. Nobody else would even quote under 5,000. Eight months later we reordered 4,000 — same factory, same contact person."
Founder, snack brand, Canada — first order 600 pcs (anonymized from real correspondence)Straight answers
Is your compostable packaging home compostable?+
Only the cellulose line (AS 5810 / OK Compost HOME). Kraft/PLA is industrial-only (EN 13432 / AS 4736, Seed logo). Each product page states which — we never blur the two.
Why is your MOQ 500 when other factories ask 10,000?+
Digital printing removes plate costs, so short runs are economical. Gravure starts at 10,000 and costs less per unit — we quote both when your volume justifies it.
Compostable or recyclable — which should my brand choose?+
It depends on your customer's disposal reality: subscribers who compost → compostable. National retail → recyclable mono-PE. 6+ month shelf life → recyclable or conventional; compostable barriers cap at ~70% of foil.
Do you charge for the certification logos?+
We never mark up certifiers' fees — but some logos carry their own sublicense (BPI ≈ US$3,000/yr, paid to BPI). We map which mark your market recognises and flag any fee before artwork starts.
Your first run should prove the product — not drain the account.
Start with a $40+ kit or 500 custom pieces. Scale when it sells.
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