Posted: 1 August, 2024. Written by REAL
CMCS announces the first certified product and first scheme participant, KOBAYASHI Healthcare Europe Ltd (Kobayashi). CMCS is a certification scheme for compostable materials, providing services to producers for the assessment and labelling of compostable finished/end products, and providing assurance and confidence in the compostability of certified products for consumers.
Kobayashi produces plastic free lens cleaning wipes for cleaning glasses under the brand name ‘Clearwipe’ and places this product on the UK market through UK retailers. Kobayashi is the first compostables producer under CMCS to achieve certification and has been granted the right to use the ‘Industrially Compostable’ trademark registered certification mark (label) designating their products as suitable for industrial/commercial composting. This product went through several critical tests at an approved testing laboratory and was assessed by the certification body, DIN CERTCO, as complying with the CMCS requirements and underlying standard, BS EN 13432.
The products certified under CMCS are assessed by the certification body according to strict criteria, requirements and procedures. Once the product has been certified, a label is issued by CMCS which shows the product is suitable for home and/or commercial composting.
Commenting on the news of Kobayashi joining CMCS, Georgia Phetmanh, Head of the Organics Materials Certification Schemes (OMCS) said:
“We are very happy to welcome KOBAYASHI Healthcare Europe Ltd. as the first participant of the CMCS. Kobayashi has achieved certification following a robust certification assessment, which has led to them receiving a licence to use our ‘industrially compostable’ certification mark.
This label will enable them to clearly show UK consumers, composters, businesses, retailers, etc., that their products are industrially compostable and can therefore be recycled by commercial composting facilities. We continue to work with other producers currently going through the rigorous testing process and look forward to welcoming more to our scheme.”
DIN CERTCO (Dr. Klaus Kock, Managing Director), the certification body which conducted the assessment, explained the importance of going through this process:
“We are pleased to confirm the positive conformity assessment for the ‘Clearwipe’ product of Kobayashi in line with the CMCS for industrial composting according to BS EN 13432. We are sure that independent third-party certification provides confidence along the value chain.”
Richard Noal, Marketing Director of Kobayashi Healthcare Europe Ltd., said:
“We are very pleased to become the first participant of CMCS and to sell our products with the ‘Industrially Compostable’ label. This helps to distinctly position ourselves as a strong player in the sector and demonstrates our commitment to the circular economy and diverting biowaste away from landfill. We commit to ensuring that our products meet the quality standard and adhere to the requirements of the scheme.”
The certificate information can be found on the CMCS website here.
Kobayashi Healthcare Europe Ltd produces a range of consumer healthcare products including heat patches for pain relief, cooling gel sheets for migraine relief as well as daily warmer products.