Plastic Produce Sticker Impacts on Compost (2025)
Plastic produce stickers are a widespread and persistent contaminant in Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) composting systems across South Australia. These small stickers are difficult to separate from organic waste and remain visible in finished compost, which reduces the compost market value and consumer acceptance. Annually, an estimated 5.62 billion plastic produce stickers enter the produce supply chain nationally.
For commercial composting operators, managing sticker contamination incurs substantial costs. South Australian composters have collectively invested more than $14.5 million in decontamination equipment, with total investments in film plastic removal exceeding $19.5 million. Despite these investments, decontamination technology is not reliably effective at removing produce stickers.
The presence of stickers also devalues recycled organic products by 20%, representing a potential loss of revenue of approximately $2 million per annum for a 200,000 tpa facility, and an estimated $8 to 10 million per annum across the entire SA organics processing sector. This contamination also negatively impacts the reputation of processors and the industry.
For community and home composters, sticker contamination creates considerable time and labour burdens. Home composters spend an average of 25 minutes per week managing stickers. Despite efforts, 53% of school and community composters and 15% of home composters always find plastic produce stickers in their finished compost. This indicates educating households or students and communities is not sufficient to eliminate produce stickers from home and commercial composting systems, requiring upstream policy intervention.
Stickers are rated as an "extreme nuisance" by home composters, with an average nuisance rating of 4.1 out of 5. Concerns include microplastic formation in soil, unsightly compost, and annoyance/nuisance value. There is significant support within the composting community for a complete ban on produce stickers or their replacement with compostable alternatives.
The report assessed current and emerging alternatives to plastic produce stickers, including compostable produce stickers, laser labelling, and no stickers.
