“Circular economy is high on many brand owners’ agenda. The harmonised recyclability test method helps companies evaluate packaging solutions and switch to recyclable packaging,” says Markku Leskelä, SVP Development at Metsä Board. “In addition, thanks to harmonised testing methods, there will be more testing laboratory capacity available with more reliable results than before. I expect this to boost development towards more and more recyclable fibre-based packaging and eventually towards higher recycling rates.”
The cross-industry alliance, 4evergreen, which provided essential support to the development of the updated test method, has also been working on a recyclability evaluation protocol including criteria based on the updated method. The protocol will complement the Circularity by Design guidelines as well as the Guidance on the Improved Collection and Sorting of Fibre-Based Packaging for Recycling, published by 4evergreen earlier this year. Cepi and 4evergreen’s end goal is to make all paper packaging recyclable by 2025 and reach a recycling rate of 90% by 2030.
“One focus of 4 evergreen is to improve the recyclability of fibre-based packaging, for example households and on-the-go food packaging, which do not recycle yet as well as packaging that is in industrial or commercial use,” says Terhi Saari, R&D Director at Metsä Board and a member of Workstream 1 in 4evergreen. “The evaluation criteria that 4evergreen is about to publish is detailed and makes reliable recyclability testing possible”.