The first home and industrial certified compostable sticker – the Sinclair T55 label – is the is the result of over 17 years of development by Sinclair, a global leader in fresh produce labelling systems. It is being widely adopted by leading players around the world, including Australia where it meets the Australian AS 5810 compost standard.
“This innovation and packaging alternative helps tackle one of the industry’s most persistent packaging issues – plastic waste at end-of life. Available in a multitude of shapes and sizes, T55
opens the door to a meaningful step for improving the sustainability of fruit labelling and as a minimal packaging alternative that meets retail, marketing and consumer requirements,” said Duncan Jones, Senior Marketing Manager at Sinclair.
“Creating a ‘finished products’ certified compostable sticker to meet both home and industrial composting standards is a complex challenge. It was one we believe was essential for the future of fruit labelling and to support our customers, the fresh produce industry and consumer calls to reduce single-use-plastic waste.”
Raising the performance bar in compostable labelling
The home and industrial compostable fruit sticker, which has been considered by many as the future of fruit labelling, has been announced as a finalist in the UK’s Grocer Gold Awards 2025. Nominated in the Sustainability Initiative of the Year (Products & Services) category, the T55 label is the first fresh produce label to achieve dual certification for both home and industrial compostability.
The certifications demonstrate that T55 meets global composting standards EN 13432, AS 5810 and NFT 51-800. The achievement means that fruit labelling can already meet the future PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation) requirements today. T55 will breakdown and decompose to safely become part of usable soil-enriching compost as well as meet rigorous food safety and operational standards.
Sinclair’s T55 compostable label was selected as a finalist for its pioneering approach to sustainability in fresh produce packaging. This ground-breaking product addresses a long-standing
industry challenge with a solution that is certified, scalable and commercially available now.
“With the T55 label we wanted to set a new standard for environmentally conscious labelling in the produce industry without compromising on application performance,” said Mark Blake, Director of Customer Support & Technical Service, at Sinclair. “We knew the solution had to work on the types of fresh produce we label. T55 had to have equivalent application performance to conventional labels to be a viable solution for our customers who have commercial targets they must achieve. Crucially, it also had to work on our existing labelling systems and be able to be durable enough for all types of environments in the packinghouses and supply chains. Being shortlisted for this award is an extremely proud moment for our team, a sign that the industry is ready for this kind of innovation.”
Find out more on Sinclair compostable labels HERE