AF&PA Releases New Guide to Further Advance Paper Recycling: ‘Design Guidance for Recyclability for Paper-based Packaging’
Building on the sustainability success of paper based packaging and recycling, the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today released a new tool, The Design Guidance for Recyclability, a data-driven resource to aid packaging designers and brands in the design and manufacture of packaging to meet recyclability goals. The guide provides data on how certain non-fiber elements, such as coatings and additives, impact the recyclability of paper-based packaging. Key findings include: *Non-fiber elements may present a recycling “challenge” when they slow down the mill’s pulping process, plug screening systems or leave residue on finished paper or paperboard. However, innovations in packaging design and materials, as well as improvements in recycling technology, have made these treatments easier to recycle than historically. *Being a “challenge” does not mean “not recyclable.” Each non-fiber element applied to each kind of packaging was rated by some mills as not a “challenge.” The Design Guidance for Recyclability is available for free download at: afandpa.org/sustainability/design-guidance