Paper Recycling: guidelines for facilitating packaging recycling

The “Guidelines for facilitating the recycling of paper packaging” is a document created thanks to the collaboration between the research group of the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta” of the Politecnico di Milano and the professionals of COMIECO.

The content offers a complete overview of the specifics of paper packaging and the different types of materials that make up the packaging, and it is part of the Pensare Futuro project which includes a series of initiatives on the prevention of the environmental impact of packaging developed by CONAI.

Click the link to read the entire document: Paper Packaging Recycling Guidelines

Paper packaging classification and functionality

Packaging has always responded to the human need to transport and preserve goods to keep them for as long as possible. If in ancient times we moved from the simple leaf to other materials such as wood, glass, fabrics, ceramics, and paper, the history of packaging as we know it today began in the second half of the 19th century with progressive industrialization, also assuming a value linked to corporate branding. Over time, this need has grown stronger.

Today, the perspective of environmental protection requires us to transform packaging with a view to eco-sustainability.

According to Legislative Decree 152/06, Art. 218, packaging is defined as “the product, composed of materials of any nature, used to contain specific goods, from raw materials to finished products, to protect them, to allow their handling and their delivery from the producer to the consumer or user, to ensure their presentation, as well as disposable items used for the same purpose”.

Packaging must therefore perform four functions:

• Containment of the product to be used by the consumer;
• Protection of the content from external factors to keep its quality intact over space and time;
• Handling of goods among the various users that make up the distribution network (from manufacturer to consumer);
• Presentation of the good to the consumer, thus fulfilling a communicative function thanks to the transfer of information from the producer to the user.

Classification of packaging

While until recently packaging was mainly focused on the function of protecting contents from external contamination, currently the use of functional materials and new technologies has allowed the generation of a new category of packaging defined as smart packaging: these are packs that, thanks to the integration of digitally printed electronics, acquire functionalities that go far beyond the simple containment of a product.

We distinguish and classify in detail the existing types of packaging:

• 1. Sales packaging or primary packaging: packaging in contact with the product that constitutes a sales unit for the user/consumer (e.g., shoe box, egg carton, bread bag, and fruit juice bricks)
• 2. Grouped packaging or secondary packaging: packaging designed to group a certain number of sales units (e.g., boxes used for e-commerce, supermarket displays, and shopping bags)
• 3. Transport packaging or tertiary packaging: packaging designed to facilitate the handling and transport of goods and aimed at minimizing transport-related damage.

Depending on their composition, packaging can be:

• Monomaterial: consisting of a single material;
• Multimaterial: consisting of components made of different materials that can be separated manually;
• Composite (also called laminated or multi-layer): composed of two or more materials that cannot be separated manually.

The Directive

Directive 94/62/EC recognizes the fundamental social and economic function of packaging. Specifically, Directive 94/62/EC asserts that packaging must be designed to allow the recycling of at least a certain percentage of the materials used in compliance with the regulations in force within the European Community. The parameters tested concern all stages of the packaging's life according to logics belonging to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Recyclable materials in a percentage higher than 60% should be preferred, limiting lamination with other materials. The packaging must also offer the possibility of completely minimizing the risk of product residues inside the container, to prevent the residue, for example food, from contaminating the recyclable waste.

It must not be forgotten, for example, that paper and cardboard, although characterized by numerous advantages such as breathability, flexibility, and lightness of the final product, are at the same time materials susceptible to humidity and water, not suitable for packaging greasy products unless laminated with barrier materials.

With equal performance, it is therefore appropriate to opt for cellulose monomaterial packaging, so as to minimize components of different materials. If, however, it is impossible to avoid adopting the latter solution, it is necessary for such packaging to be easily separable by the end user.

Design for recycling: how should packaging be designed?

To talk about design for recycling, it is important for the designer to know and take into account the different processes that make up the end-of-life of packaging, in order to be able to design alternative solutions aimed at optimizing the recycling of paper and cardboard packaging products.

The packaging must, for example, be made with inks that are easily washable during the recovery phase. For example, UV inks are not easily removable and their use can compromise the purity of a batch sent for recycling.

To obtain recyclable packaging, it is also advisable to limit the use of PVC adhesive tapes or fixing staples, which are difficult for the end consumer to remove and would simultaneously create a residue within the processing of the product to be recycled.

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