CEPI updates test method for paper recyclability

The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) has updated its paper recyclability test method, with a focus on the paper packaging industry.

The group says the method was developed in collaboration with others across the paper value chain, including specialized testing laboratories, and with the support of members of Brussels-based 4evergreen, which includes paper and board producers, packaging converters, brand owners and research organizations.

“To optimize recycling, product design is just as important as the final collection and processing after usage,” CEPI Director General Jori Ringman says. “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.”

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Over a nine-month period, CEPI and 4evergreen performed numerous tests that they say informed the improvements of the method and the development of three technical annexes.

“Many paper packaging solutions already enjoy high recycling rates, but are also increasingly fulfilling new functionalities,” CEPI says in a statement. “These need to be considered by brand owners aiming to reach ever higher performance in terms of circularity and sustainability for their products.”

The testing method allows the processes taking place at industrial scale in paper recycling mills to be replicated in laboratory conditions. CEPI says design guidelines and evaluation protocols are developed to support the paper value chain in the effort to improve recyclability, with the end goal to make all paper packaging in Europe recyclable by 2025 and to reach a recycling rate of 90 percent by 2030.

A “recyclability evaluation protocol,” released by 4evergreen, will provide packaging developers with “pass-through” criteria based on the updated recyclability testing method, which the group says will further support the industry in producing fiber-based packaging compatible with a “low-carbon, climate-neutral society.”

“The method developed together by the actors gathered by CEPI and 4evergreen provides a comprehensive toolkit to boost recyclability validation across Europe in a harmonized way,” 4evergreen Alliance Chair Hans Wortman says.