The 4Evergreen alliance has produced a beta version of a protocol to judge the recyclability of fibre based packaging.
The intention is to cover the entire production chain from design and specification through print and embellishment, through to end of life use and recycling. The 4Evergreen Alliance is a cross industry organisation with more than 100 members from brands to converters, mills and designers.
Development of the protocol was the work of 75 experts able to call on 50 different recycling tests. These have been based on the recycling tests developed by Cepi, the confederation of European paper mills. This will result in different papers receiving a score for recyclability.
Likewise this is the aim of the new protocol, though it extends beyond the simple recyclability of the chosen fibre based material. The evaluation process will result in a score from -100 to +100 for each material, with a negative score indicating difficulty in recycling. The organisation is at pains to stress this would not rule out recycling, but that this might have to be carried out by a floatation or a specific process and probably only offered in a limited number of locations.
In contrast a positive score indicates that the material is highly suitable for recycling, just how suitable is shown by a higher or lower score. It could give specifiers, and potentially legislators, a guide to decide which materials and processes to use or outlaw
The association is looking for feedback from those trying the protocol and to gain further insight from recycling mills about the materials they handle.
Business consultant at Wepa Group and 4Evergreen chairman Hans Wortman says: “ This beta release of the recyclability evaluation protocol for standard mills is a major step towards a straightforward, reliable, recyclability evaluation method that the entire sector can use.
“The next step is the development of the recyclability evaluation protocol for deinking and specialised mills. These efforts take us closer to our goal for a 90% recycling rate by 2030.”
