Your Fresh Start for 2026: Planning a Plastic-Free Growing Season

What if the best way to prepare for the 2026 growing season isn't just about seed selection or soil testing—but about rethinking how materials move through your operation? For growers across North America and Europe, the start of 2026 represents something bigger than another planting cycle. It's an opportunity to align your operation with where the industry is heading: toward materials that nourish soil instead of contaminating it, toward costs that stay predictable instead of volatile, and toward practices that build long-term value instead of creating disposal headaches.

The farms and nurseries making the shift to compostable horticulture products now aren't just chasing sustainability credentials—they're securing supply before demand spikes, stabilizing costs before market volatility hits, and turning soil health into a genuine competitive advantage. Here's why early 2026 is the right time to make that transition, and what a smart reset actually looks like.

The regulatory landscape is creating new opportunities

The agricultural industry is evolving, and 2026 marks a meaningful turning point where environmental regulations shift from distant policy to practical operating reality. Understanding these changes helps growers make informed decisions about materials and suppliers.

California's SB 343 reaches a major milestone in October 2026, establishing clear standards for environmental labeling. Products carrying recycling symbols or "recyclable" claims must now meet specific statewide recovery thresholds. For many conventional agricultural plastics—nursery pots, greenhouse film, and mulch—this means current labeling may need to change. The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery estimates that fewer than 5% of rigid agricultural plastics currently meet these new standards, creating clarity for growers about which materials qualify for environmental claims and which don't.

Colorado's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program launches in January 2026, joining California, Oregon, and Maine in a system where manufacturers help fund end-of-life management for packaging materials. While the immediate responsibility falls on producers, these costs naturally flow through supply chains. Industry projections suggest this could add measurable costs to conventional plastic inputs—which makes now a good time to evaluate alternatives.

In Europe, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) becomes enforceable in August 2026, setting clear recyclability and recycled-content targets. While agricultural film and pots currently fall into certain exemptions, several EU member states are developing national programs that extend coverage to horticultural plastics. Germany and France have signaled intent to broaden EPR to include agricultural plastics by 2027, and the European Commission's circular economy action plan specifically names agricultural plastics as a focus area. The direction is clear: exemptions today are becoming standards tomorrow.

For growers, these regulatory shifts aren't obstacles—they're signals. They indicate where material costs are headed, which supply chains will stay stable, and where smart early decisions create lasting advantages.

Disposal costs are rising steadily

Beyond regulatory changes, practical economics are shifting too. Landfill tipping fees across North America have been climbing steadily—rising 7-22% annually between 2020 and 2024, according to data from the Environmental Research & Education Foundation. In some regions, increases have exceeded 30% as available capacity tightens and environmental standards evolve. For operations that cycle through thousands of plastic pots, trays, and clips each season, disposal is becoming a more significant line item.

Consider a mid-sized containerized nursery producing 500,000 units annually. If even 5% of polyethylene pots fail quality checks or become unusable, that's 25,000 pots heading to disposal each year. At current and rising tipping fees, plus labor for sorting and hauling, these costs can add up quickly—especially when multiplied across multiple growing seasons or multiple facilities.

Conventional mulch film presents similar challenges. While marketed as reusable, field conditions often tell a different story. Soil adhesion, UV exposure, and mechanical stress mean many growers get one, sometimes two seasons before the film becomes too brittle or contaminated to reuse. Removal requires manual labor to pull, shake, bundle, and haul—often measured in dozens of hours for larger operations. Then comes disposal, and increasingly, some waste haulers are refusing heavily soiled agricultural plastics or charging premium fees for specialized handling.

What once looked like cost savings at purchase is becoming a recurring operational expense—one that compostable alternatives can eliminate entirely.

Soil health matters for long-term value

Price and compliance create immediate pressure, but there's a longer-term consideration worth thinking about: soil quality. Research continues to show that conventional polyethylene mulch leaves behind microplastic fragments—small particles that persist in soil for extended periods.

Studies indicate that agricultural fields using polyethylene mulch over multiple consecutive seasons can accumulate measurable microplastic concentrations in topsoil. These particles can affect water infiltration rates and influence microbial communities involved in nutrient cycling. For growers managing certified organic operations or building brand value around soil health practices, microplastic contamination represents a challenge that conventional accounting doesn't always capture.

Reduced water infiltration means adjusting irrigation approaches. Changes in microbial activity can affect organic matter decomposition and nutrient availability. For operations invested in long-term soil fertility and regenerative practices, these are meaningful considerations.

The contamination issue extends beyond mulch. Nursery pots, plant ties, and vine clips all shed small particles through UV exposure, mechanical wear, and temperature cycling. When these products enter compost systems—as often happens when plants are tilled under or pruned—the result can be contaminated compost that may not meet organic certification standards or regulatory requirements for land application. What should be a closed nutrient loop instead introduces persistent materials into growing systems.

Understanding genuine compostability

Faced with these challenges, many growers have explored products labeled "biodegradable" or "compostable"—only to discover that these terms require careful scrutiny. The market includes materials that break down only under specific industrial composting conditions (high heat, controlled moisture, managed aeration) or that fragment into smaller pieces without truly biodegrading.

Genuine compostability requires meeting strict, standardized criteria. In North America, ASTM D6400 and ASTM D6868 establish benchmarks for industrial composting, requiring materials to disintegrate within specific timeframes and biodegrade into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass without leaving toxic residue. Europe's EN 13432 standard provides similar requirements.

But here's an important distinction: most commercial composting facilities operate at higher temperatures and faster throughputs than backyard or on-farm systems. Products certified for industrial composting may not perform the same way in real-world agricultural settings.

Home compostability represents a higher standard. Certifications like NF T51-800 (France), AS 5810 (Australia), and OK Compost HOME (TÜV Austria) require breakdown at ambient temperatures within defined timeframes—conditions that match what growers actually experience in windrow composting, seasonal green waste piles, or direct soil incorporation. These standards also test for ecotoxicity and prohibit materials that leave microplastic residue.

The challenge? Relatively few products on the market carry verified home-compostable certification for rigid applications like pots, trays, or clips. For growers seeking to integrate products directly into seasonal composting workflows—cutting tomato vines with clips attached, tilling under mulch at season's end, composting unsold nursery stock in pots—finding truly home-compostable options has been difficult. Until recently.

Why planning ahead creates advantages

As regulations take effect and costs shift, market dynamics will naturally follow. When California's October 2026 deadline arrives and Colorado's EPR costs become unavoidable, more operations will transition to compliant alternatives—and suppliers with limited production capacity will need to manage growing demand.

We've seen this pattern in other industries. When the EU implemented certain single-use plastic restrictions in 2021, alternative material suppliers faced significant backlogs as businesses adapted. Early adopters who had secured contracts 12-18 months prior maintained both cost stability and uninterrupted supply.

The 2026 horticulture transition will likely follow a similar path, but with higher stakes—growing seasons are time-sensitive, and supply gaps in late winter or early spring mean lost revenue for an entire year.

Growers who establish supply relationships now—in early 2026, before broader market shifts—gain several natural advantages. First, pricing stability: locking in contracts before demand increases helps shield operations from price volatility in spot markets later in the year. Second, reliable allocation: manufacturers managing constrained capacity typically fulfill existing contracts before accepting new orders, ensuring reliable delivery when planting windows open. Third, integration time: switching materials mid-season creates unnecessary risk; early adoption allows time to test, adjust processes, and train staff without jeopardizing production schedules.

The broader market context reinforces this timing. Global bioplastic supply chains continue to mature, and feedstock costs remain sensitive to agricultural commodity prices. Early planning provides more options and better price visibility than reactive decisions made under deadline pressure.

What a smart 2026 reset looks like

So what does thoughtful preparation actually involve? It starts with recognizing that this transition isn't a burden—it's an opportunity to align regulatory compliance, cost management, and soil stewardship into a single strategic decision. The operations thriving in the next decade will be the ones that used early 2026 as a planning moment: a chance to secure supply, stabilize costs, and build regenerative practices into core workflows before market conditions shifted.

The encouraging news? Real solutions exist today—materials that deliver the durability and performance agriculture requires while genuinely breaking down into soil-nourishing biomass. Look for products carrying third-party certifications across multiple degradation environments: home compostable, industrially compostable, and soil biodegradable. This tri-certification ensures flexibility—whether you're running a controlled windrow compost operation, tilling materials directly into beds, or partnering with a municipal organics program, the material will perform as expected.

Equally important: verified testing for microplastic residue and ecotoxicity confirms that what you're adding to your soil today won't create challenges tomorrow.

Many growers initially worry that "compostable" means "fragile," especially for demanding applications like vine clips, hanging baskets, or injection-molded pots. The latest generation of bioplastic formulations addresses this concern directly. Advanced materials now match or exceed the tensile strength, UV stability, and moisture resistance of polyethylene while maintaining full compostability—no process modifications required, no performance compromises. For greenhouse operations running automated potting lines or vineyard crews working with hundreds of plants daily, performance equivalence isn't optional—and current materials science delivers it.

Cost comparisons deserve thoughtful analysis. Certified compostable products typically carry a 1.5–2.5× premium over conventional plastics at purchase. But total cost of ownership tells a more complete story. When you account for rising landfill fees, labor for plastic removal and sorting, contamination charges, potential EPR fees, and the agronomic value of returning organic matter to soil instead of extracting it, the economics often favor compostables—especially for operations already investing in composting infrastructure or certified organic production.

Some early adopters report that eliminating end-of-season plastic removal labor alone offsets 30-50% of the product premium, before counting disposal savings or soil health benefits. For operations where composting is already part of the workflow, the transition becomes even more straightforward.

Building a better system together

At Compostify, we believe the future of horticulture shouldn't require choosing between performance and environmental responsibility—or between compliance and competitiveness. That's why our materials are certified home-compostable, industrially compostable, and soil biodegradable, verified by independent labs to break down completely in the conditions growers actually work in, leaving behind nutrient-rich organic matter instead of microplastics.

Whether you're running nursery pots through automated transplanters, clipping tomato vines in high-production greenhouses, or mulching row crops, our products integrate directly into seasonal composting workflows, closing nutrient loops and building soil health with every cycle. We're not asking you to compromise on durability, change automation systems, or accept higher breakage rates. We're demonstrating that genuine compostability and genuine performance can coexist—and that planning your transition in early 2026, ahead of market shifts and supply constraints, creates advantages that last.

The era of treating plastic as disposable is ending. But the alternative isn't scarcity or sacrifice—it's a smarter material choice that turns regulatory clarity into operational advantage, waste streams into soil fertility, and the 2026 growing season into a fresh start.