Cepi, the Confederation of European Paper Industries, has published a detailed description of a standard method to test the recyclability of a paper or board as a crucial step on the way to making all paper packaging recyclable by 2025.
“The updated Cepi harmonised recyclability test method offers a solid basis for this work and allows paper products across Europe to be tested for their recyclability in identical condition,” it says.
The work has been supported by 4Evergreen, a body representing the packaging supply chain which has provided a reality check at every stage to ensure that the new assessment method is practical in use. The 4Evergreen will release its own “recyclability evaluation protocol” based on the new assessment method so that packaging developers can make informed choices in line with the general move to “a low carbon, climate neutral society” says Cepi.
Its director general Jon Ringman says: “To optimise recycling, product design is just as important as the final collection and processing after usage. This is why one needs to be able to involve all value chain actors into the effort of improving recyclability. We hope that this work will support the EU’s transition to a resilient, circular economy.”
The ability to assess the recyclability of a paper or board ahead of use is considered a vital step towards this goal. Companies that are large enough will be able to perform their own testing, though the majority of testing will take place in the laboratories of paper mills.
Cepi does not comment on the impact of any printing method – this is about the potential for recycling of the substrate when it reaches the recycling mill. Thus the procedures aim to reflect the process steps in a recycling mill and what can be expected during the passage.
Until now there has been little standardisation of how to run these tests despite there being a number of ISO standards for various elements. Having a harmonised testing method will provide confidence to buyers and users that the same scale has been used in assigning a score to a material.
Cepi says this will help guide eco-design for packaging by enabling the end of use recyclability to be considered at an early stage, for new types of paper based packaging as well as for existing products. This will help with the transition from plastic to fibre based packaging, and for moulded materials as well as for primary and secondary packaging that will be printed.
The recyclability will be assessed by the particles released and collected, by the ease of separating the fibres, the potential to create new sheets, the visual appearance, fragmentation and removal of disrupting materials such as adhesives, films, plastics and metals.
It will result in a report for each paper or board tested involving figures for each critical step, photographic comparisons, reference back to the original test the recyclability profile is based upon, and score to help buyers and users assess the advantages of using that material.
The step comes as organisations, Royal Mail being a prime example, want to work with materials that can be recycled at end of life. Major brands are also becoming away of the importance of recycling in the minds of consumers.
In a presentation to the Ingede recycling symposium earlier this year, Cepi’s raw materials director Ulrich Leberle explained that the need to understand the recycling potential of a paper or board grade is important too to local authorities telling householders how to segregate their waste, to help mills improve the recyclability of their products and for recycling mills on how to handle the material.
