Home Compostable Straws and the FOGO Bin: What the Label Actually Promises

Summer's a few weeks off. That means more iced lattes, more smoothies, more cold drinks going out the door, and a lot more straws. It also means more customers holding a used straw over your bins asking, "Which one does this go in?"

It's a fair question. The honest answer is less simple than most packaging makes it sound. A few things have happened in the last few weeks that make this a good time to get your answer sorted, so here's my take as someone who sells sugarcane-fibre straws for a living.

What's changed lately

The home composting standard is being rewritten. Standards Australia has released Draft DR AS 5810:2026, Biodegradable products suitable for home composting, for public comment until 15 December 2026. The Consumers' Federation of Australia flagged it on 16 October. The draft sets out how to test whether something can be composted at home, covering composition, biodegradation, disintegration and ecotoxicity, and gives certification bodies the criteria to back up a claim. Anyone can comment by creating a free account on the Standards Australia public comment portal.

The composters are asking for cleaner bins. The Australian Organics Recycling Association has put out a draft FOGO position paper for member consultation. BioCycle's 6 October write-up and AORA's own summary say contamination in FOGO loads currently runs from 1% to 15% by weight, well above the industry's working target of 2%. AORA's position is that FOGO bins should only hold food and garden organics, plus certified compostable liners (AS 4736) in some states.

State rules already lean that way. The NSW EPA's FOGO page for households (updated July 2026) is blunt: apart from food, garden waste and approved caddy liners, "nothing else goes in FO or FOGO bins, including home-compostable products (Australian Standard AS 5810-2010)." In WA, the ABC reported in August that the Waste Authority had changed its guidance so only garden waste, unpackaged food waste and certified compostable bin liners go in FOGO bins.

And loose green claims are under the spotlight. New EU rules on generic environmental claims like "eco-friendly" and "biodegradable" kicked in on 27 September. PKN Packaging News reported that the Australasian Bioplastics Association is worried packaging that can't make those claims in Europe could end up being sold here. The ABA's advice is to look for certification to AS 4736 (commercial composting) or AS 5810 (home composting), with a certification logo and licence number. It also pointed out that European compostability certification doesn't show a product meets the Australian standards, which include an earthworm toxicity test.

So what does "home compostable" actually tell you?

Here's how I'd put it. An AS 5810 certification tells you how a product has been tested to behave in a home compost. It doesn't tell you which bin to use at your café, and it doesn't mean your council's FOGO service will take it. Those are different questions, and they get answered by different people.

I think that's the bit that trips people up. A straw can be genuinely certified home compostable and still be the wrong thing to put in a NSW FOGO bin. Nobody's lying in that situation. The label and the bin rules just answer different questions.

And "biodegradable" printed on a box with no standard, logo or licence number next to it tells you very little at all.

What I'd do if I ran a café this summer

Ask for the paperwork for the exact product. Not the range, not the brand, the specific item you're buying. At Biodegradable Straws, AS 5810 support applies to selected sugarcane SKUs only. It's not a blanket claim across everything we sell, and we'll send the current certificate with your samples so you can check it yourself. The same goes for PFAS and food-contact documentation, which we keep per product. If a supplier can't tell you which certificate covers which item, I'd take that as a warning sign.

Check the licence number. The ABA keeps a register of certified products. It only takes a minute, and it's the easiest way to separate a real certification from a nice-looking logo.

Find out where your waste actually goes. For a lot of venues that means your commercial waste contractor, not the household FOGO rules. Ask them directly what they accept in their organics stream, and get it in writing if you can. Council FOGO, commercial organics and home compost are three different pathways with three different sets of rules.

Be careful with your bin signs. If your organics service doesn't take straws, a "compostable, pop it in the green bin" sign is just going to add to the contamination AORA is worried about. It's better to tell customers exactly what goes where at your counter, even if that means the straw goes in general waste for now.

Hand out fewer straws. I'll keep saying this even though it's a strange thing for a straw supplier to say. Offering straws on request, instead of dropping one in every cold drink, cuts costs and waste at the same time. Summer is when it adds up the most.

Should you comment on the draft standard?

If you've got real experience with how compostable products behave, or how confused customers get at the bin, I'd say yes. Public comment is open to everyone until 15 December, and standards like this are better when the people using the products have their say, not just labs and manufacturers. The CFA post linked above explains how to find the draft and leave a comment.

A quick note for NZ readers

The rules on your side of the Tasman are different again, and kerbside organics services vary between councils. Check with your local council or contractor before making any claims about where a straw can go. Our New Zealand straw rules page is a starting point, and Australian buyers can find the state-by-state version on our Australian plastic straw ban page.

Want to see the paperwork?

If you're sorting out straws before the summer rush, request samples and tell me which certificates you need to see. I'll send the current documents for the exact SKUs you're testing, and if something doesn't apply to a product, I'll tell you that too. If you already know what you need and want to talk volumes, use the wholesale enquiry form instead.