According to protocol

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) has plans to release its Recyclability Protocol for Fiber-Based Packaging in early 2023.

The Washington-based association announced it was developing a recyclability protocol for paper-based packaging products in mid-2020. At that time, ISRI President Robin Wiener said, “Under the current system, there is no standard to determine a product’s recyclability from beginning to end, which is an obstacle for increasing packaging recycling rates.”

Wiener added that products that are not recyclable are labeled as being recyclable, confusing consumers and weakening the residential recycling system as a result.

“Having one, universal determination for recyclability created by the recyclers that collect and process the material, in coordination with the mills that consume it, will be an enormous step forward in the evolution of recycling,” she said.

In October, ISRI Senior Economist Bret Biggers provided additional details on the Recyclability Protocol for Fiber-Based Packaging at the Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference, hosted by the Recycling Today Media Group in Chicago. The protocol was available at www.isri.org/recyclability-protocol for comment at that time.

Protocol’s purpose

The protocol will be an online tool that automatically scores a fiber-based package’s recyclability based on a set of criteria using the methodology research conducted for the protocol, Biggers said. The resulting score determines whether the packaging meets ISRI’s definition of recyclable or it has challenges that require modifications or testing.

He said the purpose of the protocol is to help reduce confusion on the part of packaging and product manufacturers as well as consumers regarding the types of paper or fiber-based packaging that can be recycled, given pressure points in the current recycling system.

The primary audiences for the protocol, Biggers said, are fiber packaging manufacturers and consumer products brand owners that use fiber packaging.

The decision criteria for the protocol are transparent so users know the specific areas to be addressed, according to Biggers’ presentation, and technical testing could be needed to determine how effectively a package can be processed at a material recovery facility (MRF) and repulped or recycled by paper mills.

The protocol incorporates all stages in the recycling process, from package design to end-use markets. Applicants will receive the results in writing, including any additional information and/or recommendations, he noted.

“A couple years ago or so, some brands came to us saying they wanted some way to know if their conversion going from paper or into paper from plastic was going to be recyclable or not,” Biggers said.

Methodology

The protocol is a “research-based approach to assess the extent to which fiber-based packaging may be recyclable and does not pose a known threat through the system as it currently is,” Biggers says.

The protocol’s methodology is based on the ISRI board of directors’ definition of recyclable materials, which is “previously used material that can be processed into specification grade commodities for which there is an end market,” he said.

The protocol is specific to postconsumer packaging marketed in the United States, though Biggers said a subsequent version could be expanded to include packaging marketed in Canada.

The scoring methodology was developed based on results of several empirical studies, including the 2021 ISRI Paper Recyclability MRF Survey conducted by Atlanta-based Moore & Associates on behalf of ISRI.

“This is a living document,” he said of the protocol, adding that ISRI plans to update it as technology and markets change.

ISRI also worked with Moore & Associates to review existing certifications and standards to aid in integrating the protocol with other applicable programs.

Scope and eligibility

For packaging to be considered recyclable in the U.S., Biggers said it must meet U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requirements for recyclability claims, be able to be sorted into a market-ready bale of like material at a MRF and be cost-effectively processed at a paper mill into suitable feedstock for use in new products.

The protocol will assess a number of a package’s factors:

• the physical size;
• the distribution volume of the product (local, regional and national);
• the percentage of recycling programs
  
that accept the packaging type;
• the likelihood that packaging will be successfully sorted at the MRF;
• whether the packaging is explicitly included in ISRI’s current paper grades; and
• the extent to which nonpaper elements of the packaging generate unacceptably high contamination and/or low yields at the consuming mill.

Scoring

In his presentation, Biggers noted the scoring system is qualitative, with the scale ranging from zero to 10 points per criterion, generally. He said the rating scales will be ordinal and not interval, meaning “that a 10 is not twice as good as a five.”

Biggers added that different scales have been selected for different characteristics “so that scales reflect the relative importance of the various characteristics to recyclability in general.”

Nonpaper elements that will be considered in the scoring process include additives such as water-based inks, dyes, adhesives and coatings; pressure-sensitive labels; plastic and poly components; metal components; and wet strength, for example. They will be assessed based on the percentage of the package by weight that they comprise.

In line with the FTC Green Guides, according to the protocol, if less than 20 percent of the population has access to recycling for a fiber-based package, it will receive one point. The points increase to five if 20 percent to 60 percent of the population can recycle the package in question and to 10 points if more than 60 percent have access to recycling.

Biggers said ISRI’s research has shown that corrugated boxes meet the 60 percent threshold, so they would receive 10 points, whereas multilayer fiber-base canisters would get five points because they are in the 20 percent to 60 percent range, and paper cups and some flexible fiber-based packaging would receive one point.

A package also will be assessed based on its progress through a MRF, with as many as five points given for those packages that are easily recovered.

“Packaging size matters,” Biggers said, because it affects how packaging moves through a MRF. ISRI developed its size guidelines with a working group that included MRF operators and paper mills.

Image from Biggers’ presentation

The score

Under the protocol, a package will be given a color based on its total points:

• green – 70 points or more;
• yellow – 60 to 69 points; or
• red – less than 60 points.

Green packages meet the protocol and can be considered recyclable, while yellow packages are defined as “incomplete or problematic” and need additional information or testing. Red packages do not meet the recyclability criteria.

According to Biggers’ presentation, “Packaging that does not receive a green code will be provided a detailed report that specifies information needed to complete the protocol, a list of potential modifications or a recommendation to conduct a MRF or mill test prior to resubmission.”

Biggers said ISRI is working with The Recycling Partnership and the Association of Plastic Recyclers to inform the additional testing section of the protocol.

ISRI closed its public comment period on the Recyclability Protocol for Fiber-Based Packaging Nov. 15. The association is considering the responses it received and determining whether to modify the protocol before making it public in the first quarter of 2023.

The author is editorial director of the Recycling Today Media Group and can be reached at dtoto@gie.net.