CEPI fine-tunes recyclability testing methods

The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), Brussels, has published an update to its European recyclability laboratory test method document, intended to help the paper and board industry analyze the recyclability at scale of packaging, paper and board products sold in Europe.

CEPI says it tapped into the knowledge of testing labs as well as manufacturing companies and other members of its 4evergreen alliance when preparing the 16-page document.

The organization calls its recyclability test method “a cornerstone of the pulp and paper industry’s commitment to circularity.”

“Paper packaging solutions already reach high recycling rates, 83.2 percent according to Eurostat, but are also increasingly fulfilling new functionalities," the group adds. "CEPI’s objective is to enable developers to verify that new types of paper packaging are compatible with conventional recycling mills while responding to the ever-evolving needs of their consumers.”

“In a time where circularity is coming back to the forefront of EU policy, it is important to recall that the entire sector has never wavered from its objective to make our packaging as circular as possible,” says Jori Ringman, director general of CEPI. “This remains a key competitiveness factor for the fiber-based packaging value chain.

“This work is important now that many novel applications are introduced to the market, often replacing less circular materials, and at a time when Europeans increasingly turn toward low-carbon, circular and renewable production and consumption.”

According to CEPI, what happens when forms of packaging are discarded, sorted and then reach intended mill destinations is an essential consideration also for brand owners aiming to reach ever-higher performance in terms of circularity and sustainability for their products.

The design guidelines and evaluation protocols developed are intended to help the paper and board industry reach a recycling rate for paper packaging of 90 percent by 2030.

Recommended testing methods typically allow processes taking place in recycled paper mills to be emulated in laboratory conditions.

The updated test method “offers a solid basis for this work and allows paper products across Europe to be tested for their recyclability in identical conditions,” CEPI states.

The organization’s test method protocols were first published in 2021 and were designed to “harmonize” the array of test methods pioneered at the national level by paper institutes in CEPI member countries.

4evergreen as an alliance that consists of more than 380 experts from across the value chain collaborating to develop expert knowledge and science-based guidelines and recommendations for fiber-based packaging.

CEPI says 4evergreen has been essential to its updating project during the past two years, with members of that group carrying out “a significant number of tests that informed the improvements of the method.”

The combined efforts allowed for what CEPI calls a “reality check” on the methodology, “resulting in a very robust test method that can now be reliably applied all over Europe.”

In the report, CEPI writes in part that for Europe to meet its high recycling targets, it is important to ensure paper and board-based materials and other cellulose fiber-based products (e.g. molded fiber products) are recyclable by the paper industry.

4evergreen recently released a “recyclability evaluation protocol” as a companion document to the CEPI test method.

The 4evergreen protocol “will provide packaging developers with assessment criteria to interpret the results obtained with the recyclability testing method.” The combined effort, CEPI says, will further support Europe’s industry in producing fiber-based packaging that is “compatible with a low-carbon, climate-neutral society and ensuring [a] high degree of fibrous material [is] being recycled back to paper products.”