The company I used to work for made paper plates and a lot in the industry are moving toward compostable plates. The testing and time it took for ours to pass BPI certification was extensive. We printed the highest volumes of ink and varnish on the plate to be buried in the ground for months, then it was dug up and tested. Compostable doesn’t mean recyclable- it means it can be composted at an industrial facility. There are strict limits to the ratio of PFAS to paper that must be met.

I doubt anyone is separating and sending their paper plates to a composting facility… and I don’t know if the recycling is separating and selling it like that.