Jon Reed shows off his Compostic products on store shelves. Photo contributed.

Californians are no strangers to rules regarding plastic bags and regulations on waste recycling.

In 2016, voters decided to ban a number of retail stores, including grocery stores, from providing free, single-use, plastic carryout bags.

In June 2022, Gov. Newsom signed SB 54, a packaging law that requires 100% of packaging in the state to be recyclable or compostable by 2032.

According to CalRecycle, packaging waste makes up 25% of what is dumped in California landfills.

A new, compostable kitchen product is aiming to help reduce plastic waste and is now available in California, including in the Central Valley.

Compostic recently released its clingwrap and resealable bags, which break down within 24 weeks in compost at home, or within 12 weeks in a commercial compost facility.

Compostic is available in Whole Foods stores in California, including the one in Fresno.

New Zealand entrepreneur and Compostic CEO Jon Reed started the company in 2017. At that time, he was on a mission to replace plastic bags in New Zealand supermarkets with compostable bags.

The bags were a success across New Zealand, but soon, the company was pulled to a different direction.

“It took us a couple of years that the movement away from plastic bags and toward sustainable alternatives were being led by consumers, not by businesses,” Reed said.

As opposed to conventional plastic, which takes hundreds of years to degrade, Compostics’ products are made of three biopolymers, including common ingredients found in compostables.

Reed said businesses have their set budgets and don’t want to add more costs to the bottom line, while consumers are more willing to pay an extra few dollars to reduce their plastic use.  

The clingwrap was started in 2017, but it took about three years to develop, and it was launched as a consumer product in February 2020.

According to a 2022 report from environmental nonprofit Greenpeace, Americans discarded 51 million tons of wrappers, containers, bottles and shopping bags in 2021—that equates to about 309 pounds of plastic per person per year.

About 95% of that ended up in landfills, oceans or scattered in the atmosphere.

Reed said he was shocked by how receptive consumers in the U.S. were of Compostics’ products.

At first, Reed was researching compostable materials out of his own intrigue. He then realized the sustainability, functionality and convenience of them.

His global network of manufacturers was already working with alternative materials. He used it to find people that shared the same vision he had with consumer products.

 “I couldn’t have gone in myself and done the science piece, work through the engineering and manufacturing side of things—that’s not possible. It was about collaborating with the right people and keeping them motivated through really hard times,” Reed said.

Once a Compostics product is used, consumers put it in their compost pile. If a consumer does not have their own compost pile, they can send them to the nearest compost facility that accepts compostable packaging.

Reed said Compostic’s products are about 80% more expensive than conventional plastic bags and clingwrap, but the company is working to eventually bring the price down.

“Its three dollars more, over six months, to do the right thing, and to feel good about what you’re wrapping your kid’s lunches with,” Reed said.

Along with the products being carried at Whole Foods, they are also sold in Lassen’s Natural Foods and Vitamins, on e-commerce membership-based grocer Thrive Market, and Amazon.

Though Compostics only got into the retail market May 2022, the products are sold in over 1,000 stores, and the company is looking to add another 2,000 to 3,000 stores in the U.S. in the next eight to 12 months.