How to Certify a Sustainable Product Like a Compostable Tag

Designing a product with sustainability in mind is just the beginning. If you want your work to be taken seriously by clients, partners, or eco-conscious brands, certification is key. This post explores how a simple design—like a compostable product tag—can follow international standards and even be certified for real-world impact.

1. Design with Standards in Mind
Before thinking about external validation, your design should already align with internationally recognized sustainability metrics. At Cualli Studio, we design using ISO 14021, ISO 17088 and ASTM D6400 as guiding frameworks. These standards help define what qualifies as recycled, compostable, or non-toxic.

2. What You Can Evaluate Yourself Some metrics can be self-assessed by the designer or brand owner:

• Recycled Content: Ask suppliers for post-consumer content percentages.
• Material Origin: Identify if the paper, cords or inks are renewable, recycled or virgin.
• Ease of Disassembly: Design tags that are easy to separate for disposal.
• Ink Composition: Choose soy-based or plant-based, low-VOC inks.

3. What Requires External Certification To truly label your product as certified, you’ll need to go through recognized institutions:

• Compostability: Use certifiers like TÜV Austria (OK Compost), BPI (USA) or DIN CERTCO (EU) for biodegradable materials.
• Hazardous Substances: Verify compliance with REACH or the Living Product Challenge Red List.
• Water & Air Emissions: These require manufacturer-level data or a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

4. Certifications You Can Reference Depending on your materials and processes, your tag could qualify for:

• OK Compost / Industrial Compostability
• Cradle to Cradle Certified
• Living Product Challenge (component)
• ISO 14021 (Environmental Claims)
• ASTM D6868 (Compostable Packaging Standards)

5. Start with Design, Then Collaborate You don’t have to do it all alone. Start by making your design documentation reflect global metrics. Then, partner with suppliers who offer certified components, and if needed, work with certification agencies for official approval.

Final Note
Not every product needs full certification to be impactful. But by designing with standards in mind, you build credibility, transparency, and open doors to future certifications as your brand grows.

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Interested in a visual toolkit that integrates all these metrics? Explore the Cualli Studio Sustainable Tag Mockup Kit — now available in a Basic and Full Edition.

🌐 Now live on Gumroad:
http://cuallistudio.gumroad.com

Design with Standards in Mind

Before thinking about external validation, your design should already align with internationally recognized sustainability metrics. We design for you using ISO 14021, ISO 17088, and ASTM D6400 as guiding frameworks. These standards help define what qualifies as recycled, compostable, or non-toxic.