How We Package
When building ALV NYC, there was one thing that was never a question: the packaging. Starting from scratch was an opportunity to get it right from the beginning. Every material was chosen to leave as little behind as possible.
Our packaging is nearly plastic-free. The only synthetic materials are the toner on shipping and nutrition labels and a thin silicone coating on parchment paper.
Here’s a closer look at every material we use — what it’s made of and how it’s designed to be disposed of.
| Item | Material | Home-Compostable | Industrially-Compostable | Recyclable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shipping box | Untreated corrugated kraft paper, stamped with Algae Ink™ | Yes (if labels removed) | Yes (if labels removed) | Yes (if unsoiled) |
| Shipping label | Unbleached sugarcane paper printed with toner ink, attached with water-activated cornstarch adhesive | Not verified | Not verified | Yes (if unsoiled) |
| Nutrition label | Unbleached sugarcane paper printed with toner ink, attached with water-activated cornstarch adhesive | Not verified | Not verified | Yes (if unsoiled) |
| Packing tape | Untreated kraft paper with water-activated cornstarch adhesive | Yes | Yes | Yes (if unsoiled) |
| Gift bag | Untreated heavyweight kraft paper with water-activated cornstarch adhesive, stamped with Algae Ink™ and tied with untreated cotton string | Yes | Yes | Yes (if unsoiled) |
| Lining & wrapping | Silicone-coated parchment paper, TÜV Austria OK compost certified (home and industrial) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Insert | Untreated 100% recycled (30% PCW) paper stamped with Algae Ink™ | Yes | Yes | Yes (if unsoiled) |
Certification is not required for compostability. Uncoated kraft, post-consumer recycled papers, cornstarch-based adhesives, and unbleached cotton strings are all naturally compostable when free from plastics, coatings, or synthetic chemicals.
Algae-based ink replaces carbon black with a toxin-free, carbon-negative pigment made from algae. Used in very small amounts on paper packaging, it’s considered safe for composting while keeping captured carbon locked in a stable, inert form — learn more at livingink.co.
We count shipping labels as packaging, even though they’re easy to overlook. Shipping and nutrition labels are printed in-house with toner. The toner contains synthetic polymers and hasn’t been verified for composting, though HP’s safety data sheet classifies it as non-hazardous. Clean labels can be recycled. If the nutrition label is food-soiled, the amount of toner on it is very small and we believe composting it is a reasonable choice, though we can’t confirm that. We continue to look for fully compostable printing alternatives as the technology develops.
Our parchment paper has a thin silicone coating that makes it non-stick. Even so, the finished paper is certified compostable by TÜV Austria, for both home and industrial composting. It isn’t accepted in most paper recycling programs, so compost it instead.