Testing the ‘separability’ of paper packaging
Worldwide demand for paper and board has grown steadily over the past 20 years. The biggest boost comes from packaging: many paper solutions are popular with consumers, and legislative restrictions on the use of single-use plastics have led to an increase in paper applications, also in areas other than where it was usually used.
A method for “separability”
To maximise the efficiency of paper recycling, it is important that paper is delivered as pure as possible, free of materials other than paper itself.
Packaging designers now have an additional tool to facilitate this process: a method which will help to realize paper packaging where paper will be easily separable from non-paper components.
Paper is laminated with other materials, e.g. plastic, for various reasons: to increase the barrier effect and protect the contents of the packaging, or to create transparent areas for better visualisation.
The Method we use is the Aticelca 502 method (Aticelca is the Italian Paper Association, member of CEPI at EU level), which measures the separability of non-paper constituents (windows, handles, closures, labels, peelable layers, etc.) of paper products. The method is applicable to all materials and products consisting of two or more constituents where at least one of them is predominantly cellulosic and can be recycled into paper.
Paper packaging requiring non-pulp constituents can still maintain the recyclability of paper by offering the citizen the possibility of separating what is different, thus enhancing the different waste streams.
The citizen at the centre
A recent survey (Doxa, 2021) reveals how citizens are willing to contribute to sustainability in everyday gestures, such as separating components and sorting waste correctly: the act of separation has to be made by consumers, so the method is studied to make this action as easy as possible for them.
Visibility of information, simplicity of the operation, no residues: only in this way can we make the act of separation ‘pleasant’ and make it part of the daily habits of citizens. The existence of an official scientific method guarantees that these characteristics are respected.
The laboratory
The method is performed in the laboratory, with the involvement of trained judges and measuring instruments. The existence of an official, codified practice makes the results comparable: the starting conditions of different manufacturers on the market who decide to launch a ‘separable’ product are really the same. The claim ‘separable’ is thus properly supported, without the risk of greenwashing.
Our laboratory is part of the working group that contributed to the construction of the method, and is now able to offer tests in accordance with it.
