“Design for the future”: CPI and WRAP launch UK guidelines for paper-based packaging

18 Feb 2019 --- The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), in conjunction with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) have launched new recycling guidelines that will help retailers and brands specify and design packaging that can be reprocessed effectively in paper mills. The guidelines were developed following consultations on packaging supply chains and intend to give clarity about what the UK Paper Industry considers recyclable. The guidelines also seek to optimize both the quality and quantity of materials being recycled at paper mills and help create an impetus for future technological development in paper packaging.

The plans are set to be considered by the On Pack Labelling Scheme (OPRL) when they amend its labels later this year. Its members typically have a two-year transition period, allowing sufficient time for technical developments to be implemented in order to be classed as “Widely Recycled” under the scheme, according to the announcement. 

WRAP acted as a facilitator and partner, but the guidelines were written, produced and widely consulted upon by the CPI in the UK.

Paper recycling in the UK has proven to be fruitful, with around 80 percent of paper and board packaging recovered for recycling, according to Simon Weston, Director of Raw Materials at CPI. 

As predicted by PackagingInsights in an investigation into the key trends of 2019, paper will become the “sustainable” material of the year. Last year, this type of packaging experienced a notable resurgence, fueled by anti-plastic sentiment, with numerous new paper-based and plastic-paper hybrid packaging launches, such as JUST Water. Significantly, paper-based packaging has the added value of appearing and feeling “natural” and provides an excellent printing substrate with potential for high-quality graphics to effectively communicate brand values (and sustainability credentials). 

“Paper is widely acknowledged to be a sustainable, renewable and readily recyclable material. However, as society develops, new uses are found which may require the addition of other materials, perhaps to extend product life and this can sometimes make recycling a challenge,” he says.

Weston continues: “Our recyclability guidelines will make it easier for designers and specifiers to identify materials that provide properties such as water resistance and can be processed by UK paper mills while minimizing waste. We hope they will provide confidence and direction to the supply chain and benefit the stock of fiber-based packaging being recovered for recycling.”

Key messages of the guidelines include:

• Designers should minimize plastic content.
• A tear-off facility should be provided for plastic facings where possible, with consumers encouraged to use them.
• Two-sided laminates such as beverage cartons and hard to recycle coffee cups can be recycled and should be collected and re-processed separately.
• Restrict metalized films and laminates.
• Choose adhesives that are soluble in water and optimize the quantities of glues and adhesives used in manufacturing.
• Waxed or waxed coated papers and siliconized papers should be minimized.

And for food contamination:

• Surface staining of packaging is acceptable, but food waste sitting in the pack or food attached to the surface is regarded as unacceptable.
• Encourage consumers to rinse before recycling.
• Provide tear-off solutions or peelable surfaces to allow the consumer to dispose of a contaminated surface in general waste and put the clean paper substrate in the recycling bin.

Speaking to PackagingInsights, Weston says: “There were a number of drivers behind the creation of these new guidelines. These included the Single Use Plastics (SUP) Directive and its potential impact upon the quality of Paper for Recycling (PfR), pressure from retailers and brands for greater clarity in what is considered easily recyclable by reprocessors, the China ban on mixed papers with the need to drive better quality, alongside a belief that technology is becoming available that could replace existing laminate coatings with materials capable of being more efficiently processed in paper mills.”

Each country has its own unique recovery systems, but Weston believes that major brands and retailers that operate across international borders want to know what to do for the best environmental outcomes for their packaging.

As the war against plastic continues, the UK government has launched a number of public consultations at the start of a process to review the whole approach to recycling and producer responsibility in the UK. “This includes, for instance, whether a tax should be levied on SUP and plastic products containing less than 30 percent recycled material,” Weston notes. 

All of this pressure will bring a focus on other environmentally sustainable packaging mediums such as paper and board. “It is important that we establish the parameters for acceptability of materials for recycling and create incentives for future development.”

“The nature and uses of paper packaging are changing and it is important that parameters are set to support and enhance the widely recyclable and sustainable nature of paper and create a direction of travel for the future,” he adds.

Helen Bird, Strategic Engagement Manager at WRAP, also comments: “Improving the quality of paper and card that goes into our paper mills is good news for the environment and the industry. These guidelines have been developed as a result of industry coming together to identify and address the challenges.”

Most brands and retailers want to do the right thing and this guidance will assist them in doing that, according to Bird. “We always have to remember that recycling is about manufacture, ensuring that fiber-based packaging that can be easily recycled is essential, particularly for a material that householders are so accustomed to recycling.”

By Elizabeth Green