How to know if a fibre-based packaging product is better suited for recycling

When it comes to recyclability and recycling, the packaging’s ability to be reprocessed into new, valuable secondary raw material is crucial. Read on and learn from the 4evergreen alliance how to assess the recyclability of fibre-based packaging materials.

Recycling fibre-based packaging

Fibre-based packaging is a key enabler of circular and green growth. This type of packaging is made of paper and board fibres that can be used again and again by being kept in the recycling loop without losing their great properties. At the same time, it can be replenished with virgin fibres, sourced from sustainably managed forests.

Moreover, fibre-based packaging has well-established recycling systems and infrastructures in most regions of Europe, allowing for efficient collection and material recovery.

But as the variety and complexity of fibre-based packaging expand (think of multi-layered packaging that extends the shelf life of food products), the industry needs a harmonised method for assessing how efficiently these materials can be recycled into usable raw material.

It’s exactly to fill this gap that, at the 4evergreen alliance, we started developing the Recyclability Evaluation Protocol. This harmonised, publicly available protocol aims to evaluate and score how well current and future packaging materials are recyclable. A beta release was launched in late 2022, including Part I on recyclability evaluation in a standard recycling mill process, and while important updates comprising the additional Parts II and III are underway, we are excited to share some key findings with you already.

How to evaluate and score a packaging product for recyclability

Evaluating recyclability can get complicated, as the paper for recycling (PfR) infrastructure across the EU is highly variable. This is because different collection and sorting systems exist to guide the specific paper grades towards the most suitable recycling process and end use.

To account for this variation and make the recyclability assessment manageable, 4evergreen categorises recycling mills into three main types, addressed in the different parts of our Recyclability Evaluation Protocol: Part I (standard recycling mill), Part II (flotation-deinking mill), and Part III (specialised recycling mill).

Recyclability evaluation in a standard recycling mill

Part I of 4evergreen’s Recyclability Evaluation Protocol focuses on standard recycling mills. These mills process the most common standard grades and high volumes of paper and board for recycling, such as corrugated boxes and many folding cartons with or without barriers. They can handle small amounts of non-fibre material, as they do not employ specialised equipment like more advanced reject handling systems, deinking technology or other specific features.

According to our Protocol, the recyclability evaluation of a paper and board packaging product in these mills follows these next steps.

For Standard mills, the first step for the assessment is running a laboratory recycling test of the packaging, according to the Cepi Recyclability Laboratory Test Method (Version 2). This method is crucial as it allows the most relevant stages of a standard mill recycling process to be mimicked in a harmonised way.

As a second step, the test results will provide data along key parameters, indicating how suitable the packaging material is for a standard recycling mill process. These parameters include yield (amount of fibrous material that can be retrieved from the fibre-based packaging), visual impurities (optical quality of the pulp obtained), and sheet adhesion (potential to form tacky impurities that are detrimental to the paper production process).

Thirdly, the data set can then be inserted into an Excel scorecard template for processing. The tool will then return scores for each individual parameter and an overall recyclability score and assessment for suitability for standard mill recycling. The higher the score, the better the recyclability in a standard recycling mill.

Any fibre-based packaging assessed as not suitable for Standard recycling mills can potentially be recyclable in different or more advanced recycling mills using different process stages and/or conditions, such as flotation-deinking mills or specialised mills.

Flotation-deinking mills and specialised recycling mills

Flotation-deinking and specialised mills are capable of processing other materials than those processed by standard paper recycling mills.

Flotation-deinking mills are designed to process graphic paper grades, typically newspapers and magazines, and remove printing ink from the pulp. These mills are operating similar stages to standard recycling mills, but with additional equipment for ink removal by means of a so-called flotation process.

Specialised recycling mills handle more fibre-based packaging that requires dedicated pulping and processing conditions, different from those commonly found in standard recycling mills. Packaging types treated in specialised mills include used beverage cartons (UBC) and fibre-based composite packaging (FBCP).

Since different types of mills use different processes and conditions, dedicated laboratory test methods are needed to mimic these processes on a laboratory scale and to evaluate the recyclability of different fibre-based packaging types.

Find all the insights in 4evergreen’s Recyclability Evaluation Protocol!

The 4evergreen alliance is actively conducting laboratory testing to incorporate the latest intel on how to evaluate recyclability in flotation-deinking and specialised mills, which will be incorporated into Part II and Part III of the Recyclability Evaluation Protocol.

While Parts II and III are underway, 4evergreen is also refining Part I of the protocol for evaluating the recyclability in standard mills more thoroughly. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the publication of a complete Recyclability Evaluation Protocol, designed to be accepted and used by the fibre-based packaging value chain as the go-to assessment tool for recyclability in Europe.