Compliance

Recyclable packaging: designed in, not promised

From 2030, unusable recyclability is a market-access problem, not a marketing one: packaging below grade C cannot be placed on the EU market. We approach it as a design question with a documented answer — including when the answer is that a fully recyclable structure is not possible for your product.

How the grading works

Under PPWR Article 6 and Annex II, packaging is assessed for recyclability and graded: A (≥95 % recyclable by weight), B (≥80 %), C (≥70 %). Packaging below grade C cannot be placed on the market from 1 January 2030; grade C itself is phased out from 2038.

The grade is a property of the whole structure — material combination, adhesives, coatings, inks, labels and closures — not of the main material alone.

What usually breaks recyclability in packaging

• Multilayer laminates combining polymers that cannot be separated in a collection stream (for example PET and PE in one flexible structure).
• Metallised or aluminium-foil layers inside a plastic structure, unless the stream accepts them.
• Full-surface shrink sleeves or labels on PET bottles of a material that does not float or sink with the bottle.
• Barrier coatings, adhesives and inks outside the de-inking or re-pelletising capability of the stream.
• Black carbon pigments and metallic finishes that sorting equipment cannot read.

The design options we quote side by side

• Mono-material (all-PE or all-PP) flexible structures — one polymer family for better sortability; the barrier has to come from the polymer choice, EVOH or a thin in-line layer, which limits shelf life for some products.
• Paper-based structures with a dispersible or repulpable barrier — recyclable in paper streams where the mill declaration supports it.
• Separable components — removable sleeves, easily separated lids, mono-material trays inside cartons.
• Reduce where you cannot substitute — less material per unit, smaller format, no unnecessary layers. Occasionally that is the honest answer.

What you receive

Every quoted structure comes with a recyclability statement: whether it is mono-material, how it is expected to sort in the relevant EU stream, which components limit the grade, and the design change that would improve it. We do not label packaging "100 % recyclable" — we document the structure and let the evidence speak, because that is what a market surveillance authority or your retail customer will check.

Frequently asked questions