Ensuring Fibre-Based Packaging is Truly Recyclable

To meet the design-for-recycling criteria under the PPWR, packaging must be easy to collect, sort and reprocess into high-quality recycled materials. But finding the optimal material composition—especially when thin polymer coatings are needed for barrier properties—is a complex challenge as small tweaks in the material combinations can significantly impact recyclability.

To accelerate innovation and validation, Walki has invested in an in-house laboratory for recyclability testing of fibre-based packaging materials. Instead of relying on time-consuming external labs, new materials and combinations can now be tested internally for reject rates and compliance with industry standards.

Shohei Sanada has been actively involved in the project as his work at Walki revolves around future package design and recyclability of paper in relation to EU regulation. Together with the working teams, he set out to understand the recycling evaluation and make a specific plan and schedule for the project of setting up the laboratory.

“There were various work phases like standardizing evaluation procedures, running equipment tests and setting up the request and reporting system”, he explains.

Coordinating and validating the method and equipment with external evaluation agencies was an important phase in the project as there is not yet an EU standardized method for testing. There are, however, widely accepted industry best practices. As Walki is a member of the industry alliance 4evergeen that brings together the whole value chain to promote fibre-based packaging for easy recyclability, the choice fell on its CEPI protocol (Standardized Evaluation Protocol for Improved recyclability). It is a framework that helps assess and improve the recyclability of fibre-based packaging, providing scientific and harmonized testing methods to evaluate how well different packaging materials perform in real life recycling process.