What is the difference between Compostable and Biodegradable?

While “biodegradable”and“compostable”may appear to be synonymous terms, there are important differences. While everything that is compostable is technically biodegradable, not everything that is biodegradable is compostable because there are specific third-party standards and time frames associated with compostability that do not exist for biodegradability. This becomes particularly important when the terms are used to describe the end of life attributes of products and packaging.