CAFES ONBOARDING KIT

The application method is a little different from plastic lids. Follow these steps for a smooth changeover for you and your team.

To clip the lid on:

  • Press down from the top with your hands on the side of the lid
  • Don’t squeeze from one side to another like you would with a plastic lid.
  • Press gently, 2–3 times, at different points around the rim, until it clips into place.
  • It may clip on the first press.
  • Don’t squish the sides of the cup so the lid stays tight

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Store cups and lids away from direct sunlight and humidity. Avoid storing them on top of the coffee machine – heat and steam can expand the fibres, which may stop the cup and lid fitting together properly.

Cups and lids: compost

  • Material: cup = paper and PHA; lid = paper and bagasse
  • Reuse ideas: planter, seed starter, craft projects, paint cup, kids’ activities (STEAM), shredded chicken bedding
  • Disposal, in order of preference:
    1. Home compost, as a carbon material
    2. Council/commercial compost: only where the council explicitly accepts compostable packaging (not just food scraps, see note below)
    3. If neither is available, general waste

NSW cafes: read before telling customers to use the green bin. NSW excludes all compostable packaging, certified or not, from residential FOGO/green bin collections – it’s a blanket ban, not certification-dependent. 

Paper sleeves: recycling or compost

  • Material: paper
  • Reuse ideas: crushed for parcel void-fill, shredded for chicken bedding
  • Disposal: paper recycling, or home compost as a carbon material

Box: recycling

  • Material: cardboard
  • Reuse ideas: parcels, craft projects, garden weed control or waste sorting
  • Disposal: cardboard recycling

Plastic sleeves (AU-made cups, 80mm fibre lids, flat and dome fibre cold lids)

  • Material: Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), plastic #4
  • Reuse ideas: parcel void-fill
  • Disposal: soft plastic drop-off recycling where available – not your kerbside/commingled recycling bin. Otherwise, general waste.

As of June 2025, 276 councils (51%) provide an organic collection service including:

  • 200 councils with FOGO. However, only 43 (21%) accept compostable packaging in their residential compost collections.
  • 74 councils with GO
  • 1 council with FO
  • 1 council with FOGO or none

Unfortunately, 260 councils don’t provide organic bins to their residents (source: DCCEEW Government website) 

Search your council on this page to check two separate things:

  1. whether they collect Food Organics (FO), Garden Organics (GO), or Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO);
  2. and, separately, whether they accept compostable packaging in that collection. Having a FOGO bin doesn’t automatically mean packaging is accepted in it; a lot of councils only want food scraps and garden waste.

For the most up-to-date information, it’s recommended to check directly with your local council to confirm which bins are provided in your area and what materials are accepted in each.

Create authentic content online:

  • Take photos of the cups in your cafe environment.
  • Tell your story: why did you switch, and why does it matter to you and your community?
  • Talk about the other sustainability initiatives in your business.
  • Reach out to us for a collaborative post.

Examples:

Key points to use in your own content:

  • Cups are certified marine biodegradable (TÜV Austria’s OK Biodegradable MARINE) and home compostable (AS5810).
  • You’re one of the first cafes using this cup technology.
  • What sets it apart from standard plastic and bioplastic alternatives:
    No petroleum-based plastic
    No microplastics
    No PLA bioplastic
    No PFAS (“forever chemicals”)
  • Clear disposal instructions, to maximise composting instead of landfill
  • Lid made of paper and bagasse fibres, also home compostable (AS5810)

Tag us on Instagram: @compostablealt. 

Tag us on Facebook: @Compostable Alternatives

Suggested hashtags: #homecompostable #compostaftercoffee #compostablecoffeecup #plasticfreelid

Add @compostablealt to your Instagram bio, and be proud of the steps you’re taking on sustainability.

Compostablealt in bio scaled

Use our posters and social media templates:

Check out all our:

Register with Responsible Cafes

Join a community of like-minded coffee professionals and get your cafe on the Responsible Cafes map, where thousands of conscious customers look for cafes like yours every month.

Download our guides to get your team onboard

Set your bins for success: 

  • Set up at least 3 bins: organics, recycling and landfill
  • print one of our bin sticker and stick it on or above the bin to encourage customers to do the right thing.
  • If you can share what happens to your waste once it leaves the cafe, do it.
  • Stories about good composting and recycling practice go a long way with customers as they can see how their efforts create a positive impact.
  • Don’t let it go unnoticed and post about it on your socials
  • see examples and inspos

Most people resist change, it’s human nature. Switching away from plastic, which is the only experience most customers have had with takeaway coffee, can feel like a hurdle. But it doesn’t have to be: behaviour change lands better when customers know what’s coming, rather than being caught off guard at the counter.

Be upfront about the switch to plastic-free lids:

  • Use our “Our Lids Are Plastic-Free” poster and/or Responsible Cafes’ “Go Topless” poster placed at eye level, somewhere customers will see it when ordering.
  • When you call the customer for collection (before putting the lid on), ask: “Do you need a lid with your coffee today, or are you happy to go without?”
  • Post about the transition on your own social media (see our templates) so your regulars hear about it and can champion the change.

FAQs

Your cups use a PHA lining which is a biomaterial, waterproof lining made by fermenting microorganisms, similar in principle to how kombucha is fermented. We apply this lining onto the paperboard that makes our cups. The cups are certified marine biodegradable (TÜV Austria’s OK Biodegradable MARINE) and home compostable (AS5810). You can read more about PHA in this article on the blog.

Your new Compostable alt. cups use PHA as their waterproof lining technology and are marine biodegradable on top of being home compostable. Other certified home compostable cups use an aqueous coating as their waterproof lining technology which isn’t fully petrochemical plastic free.

In line with both our ethics, this is the main reason why we switched all our cups to PHA in 2026.

Home compostable (AS5810) means the product breaks down in an ordinary backyard compost bin, no special heat or equipment needed. Commercially/industrially compostable (AS4736) needs the sustained high heat of an industrial facility, which most households, and most councils (92%), don’t have access to.

That’s why we created Compostable Alt. where all our products are manufactured to home composting standards: it doesn’t depend on infrastructure that may not exist where your customers live.

No. Biodegradable just means something will eventually break down, no guaranteed timeframe, no guarantee of what it breaks down into, and often no third-party check at all. Compostable is a tested, certified claim: a named standard (AS5810 or AS4736 here), a defined timeframe, and confirmation that nothing toxic is left behind. A lot of “biodegradable” packaging on shelves has no certification behind it. That’s one of the more common greenwashing tactics to watch for.

 Look for a named, third-party certification and standard number on the product: AS5810 or AS4736 in Australia, or TÜV Austria’s OK Compost marks internationally, not just the word “compostable,” “eco,” “plant-based,” or “sustainable” sitting on its own. If a supplier can’t point you to a specific certification and standard, treat the claim as unverified.

Around 7–10 weeks in an active home compost pile and up to 6 months in seawater.

This is a last resort as it defeats the purpose of the cup being designed to be composted. Composting certifications are tested for aerobic conditions: oxygen, moisture, microbial activity. Landfill is anaerobic (no oxygen). Compostable material breaks down far more slowly there, sometimes over years, and organic matter breaking down that way can release methane. Home composting is what delivers the actual environmental benefit, landfill is “less bad than plastic,” not “fine.”

Worth correcting kindly where you can, but not a disaster. Contamination (compostable items in recycling, or vice versa) is part of why some councils have pulled back from accepting compostable packaging at all, so getting it right at the counter and on your bin signage protects the wider system, not just your own bin.

Contact

If you have any feedback on the products or any additional questions, please feel free to use the form below so Marion or Alexis can get back to you!

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