News from CMCS

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REAL appoints TÜV AUSTRIA as a new CMCS Certification Body

Posted: 10 January, 2024. Written by REAL

• Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd (REAL) announces the recent appointment of TÜV AUSTRIA to conduct certification assessments for the Compostable Materials Certification Scheme (CMCS), the second certification body to be appointed.
• Once a product is certified, a trademark registered certification mark is issued by REAL to the compostables producer which shows the product is suitable for home and/or commercial composting.
• In addition to the mark, a certificate is issued for a period of 5 years during which the products undergo further testing and assessment to verify continued compliance with the scheme requirements.
• REAL is very pleased to have another certification body on board as it offers producers the choice of organisations for the assessment.

TÜV AUSTRIA (TUV) has been appointed as a new certification body under Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd (REAL)’s Compostable Materials Certification Scheme (CMCS). TUV is tasked with the responsibility of conducting certification assessments for CMCS, which entails assessing products and test results against scheme documents to ensure the products comply with certification requirements. TUV is the second certification body appointed under CMCS, chosen by REAL to certify on REAL’s behalf.

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 trademark registered certification mark is issued by REAL (either ‘REAL Home Compostable’ or ‘REAL Industrially Compostable’), marks can be seen here and show the product is suitable for home and/or commercial composting.  

Along with the designation of the mark, a certificate is issued for a period of five (5) years during which samples of the product undergo further testing and assessment. The products are tested to verify that they continue to comply with the requirements by a process known as IR Spectroscopy – the measurement of the interaction of infrared radiation with matter by absorption - and chemical characterisation testing.

Commenting on the importance of this latest development to testing and certification, Justyna Staff, Schemes Director at REAL said:

“Congratulations to TÜV AUSTRIA who have been appointed as a new certification body under CMCS. TÜV AUSTRIA brings a wealth of experience to CMCS to really assist with the certification of compostable materials in accordance with a high standard of testing and assessment methods. This augurs well for REAL, and the compostables producer – we are very happy to have another certification body on board as it offers producers a choice of two (2) different organisations. We are looking forward to working with TÜV AUSTRIA, to continue operating a robust and efficient certification scheme.”

Philippe Dewolfs, Business Unit Manager of TÜV AUSTRIA said:

“Active since 1995 in the field of compostable product certification, we are delighted to be involved in the development of these products in the UK.

We're convinced that many of our more than 1500 customers will be delighted to upgrade their existing certifications to obtain a CMCS certificate for the UK market, whether for industrial or home composting.”