EPRC announces European Paper Recycling Awards winner

The European Paper Recycling Council (EPRC), Brussels, has awarded global paper and packaging company Mondi the 10th edition of the European Paper Recycling Awards. 

This year’s award recognizes Mondi’s work in delivering a range of functional paper packaging with specific barriers that the council says are easy to process for recyclers.  

“I’m proud to accept this award on behalf of Mondi and our teams who are committed to making packaging sustainable by design,” says Elisabeth Schwaiger, Mondi flexible packaging head of innovation. “Our recyclable FunctionalBarrier papers show how innovation and rigorous, science-led testing can deliver real circular solutions.” 

The council says it distinguishes European projects, initiatives or campaigns that change the way Europeans recycle. EPRC's latest report shows that the paper value chain is still on track to reach a 76 percent recycling rate by 2030. 

EPRC says paper products in Europe currently reach an overall recycling rate of 75.1 percent, while paper-based packaging reaches a rate of 87 percent. 

“Our European paper recycling system is successful not by chance, but by design,” EPRC Chair Valeria Salvadori says. “Decades of collaboration across the value chain—from paper manufacturers and recyclers to collectors, municipalities and brand owners—have created a system that works. And it also works because the right policies are in place. The paper recycling system that delivers real environmental benefits, economic value and industrial resilience.”