PPWR and recy­cla­bi­li­ty? 7 Tips to make your pack­a­ging high­ly recy­clable accor­ding to PPWR Gui­de­lines

PPWR and recy­cla­bi­li­ty? 7 Tips to make your pack­a­ging high­ly recy­clable accor­ding to PPWR Gui­de­lines

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The recy­cla­bi­li­ty of pack­a­ging is beco­ming incre­asing­ly important—not only for the envi­ron­ment but also to meet legal requi­re­ments. Under the PPWR regu­la­ti­on, the­re are spe­ci­fic gui­de­lines for pack­a­ging recy­cla­bi­li­ty. Start­ing in 2030, all pack­a­ging pla­ced on the mar­ket must be recy­clable. In addi­ti­on, pack­a­ging must con­tain mini­mum shares of recy­cled mate­ri­als, and exces­si­ve pack­a­ging (e.g., a card­board box around a tooth­pas­te tube) must be avo­ided. Inter­fe­ring mate­ri­als will be ban­ned, and pro­du­cers will bear exten­ded respon­si­bi­li­ty for the dis­po­sal and reco­very of their pack­a­ging.

Peter El-Gaz­z­ar, an expert in recy­cling capa­bi­li­ty and pro­ject mana­ger of the Noven­tiz recy­cling seal “rota­te”, has com­pi­led 7 tips to help pack­a­ging meet PPWR requi­re­ments for recy­cla­bi­li­ty.

PPWR and Recy­cling Capa­bi­li­ty

PPWR und Recyclingfähigkeit - Tipp 1: Vermeiden Sie großflächige Etiketten

PPWR & Recy­cling Capa­bi­li­ty

Tip 1: Avo­id Lar­ge Labels

If labels are made of a dif­fe­rent mate­ri­al than the pack­a­ging, they can make sort­ing more dif­fi­cult. If the label covers more than 50% of the pack­a­ging, for exam­p­le, the­re is a very high pro­ba­bi­li­ty that this pla­s­tic pack­a­ging will not be sor­ted into the cor­rect frac­tion, thus limi­ting its recy­cla­bi­li­ty, even though the pack­a­ging is basi­cal­ly recy­clable.

The result: High-qua­li­ty recy­clable mate­ri­al is lost in the recy­cling pro­cess, even though the pack­a­ging is basi­cal­ly recy­clable.

So use labels that are made of the same mate­ri­al as the pack­a­ging and limit their size. In this way, sort­ing capa­bi­li­ty is main­tai­ned and the recy­cling pro­cess is not impai­red. In this way, you help to ful­fil the requi­re­ments of the PPWR and pro­mo­te an effi­ci­ent cir­cu­lar eco­no­my, as the PPWR requi­res all pack­a­ging to be recy­clable from 2030. Labels that hin­der the sort­ing capa­bi­li­ty of pack­a­ging are in direct con­flict with this goal.

PPWR und Recyclingfähigkeit - Tipp 2: Vermeiden Sie schwarze Kunststoffverpackungen

PPWR & Recy­cling Capa­bi­li­ty

Tip 2: Avo­id Black Pla­s­tic Pack­a­ging

Black pla­s­tic pack­a­ging is chal­len­ging to recy­cle and often ends up in inci­ne­ra­tors rather than recy­cling streams. The dark colo­ra­ti­on makes it dif­fi­cult for infrared scan­ners at sort­ing faci­li­ties to iden­ti­fy the mate­ri­al. Alt­hough the­re are advan­ced tech­no­lo­gies that can reco­g­ni­se black pla­s­tics, the­se are curr­ent­ly only available in a few plants.
Ins­tead, unco­lou­red pack­a­ging should be used. This is high­ly recy­clable as it can be easi­ly reco­g­nis­ed in the sort­ing pro­cess due to its near-infrared pro­per­ties.

The use of light colours and mono­ma­te­ri­als pro­mo­tes the pro­duc­tion of recy­cled gra­nu­la­tes, clo­ses the recy­cling loop and enables com­pa­nies to meet their obli­ga­ti­ons under the PPWR while con­tri­bu­ting to a resour­ce-effi­ci­ent future.

PPWR und Recyclingfähigkeit - Tipp 3: Vermeiden Sie Keramikkomponenten und bevorzugen Sie transparente Glasflaschen

PPWR & Recy­cling Capa­bi­li­ty

Tip 3: Avo­id Cera­mic Com­pon­ents and use trans­pa­rent Glass Bot­t­les

Glass pack­a­ging wit­hout transparency/translucency (par­ti­al trans­lucen­cy) has limi­t­ed recy­cla­bi­li­ty and, accor­ding to the mini­mum stan­dard, requi­res an addi­tio­nal, char­geable mea­su­re­ment for iden­ti­fi­ca­ti­on. Cera­mic com­pon­ents are even incom­pa­ti­ble with recy­cling. One exam­p­le of this is colou­red cham­pa­gne bot­t­les or glass pack­a­ging with pla­s­tic adhe­si­ve labels, pro­vi­ded they are waterproof/hydrophobic adhe­si­ve labels. The­re is no light trans­mis­si­on here and the frag­ments are not fed into the recy­cling cycle. Unre­co­g­nis­ed glass frag­ments are lost in the recy­cling pro­cess. This not only means a loss of valuable raw mate­ri­als, but also a was­te of ener­gy and resour­ces that are nee­ded to pro­du­ce new glass.

The PPWR calls for effi­ci­ent recy­cling pro­ces­ses and sets clear requi­re­ments for the recy­cla­bi­li­ty of pack­a­ging. Trans­pa­rent glass bot­t­les are ide­al for sort­ing, while cera­mic com­pon­ents cau­se recy­cling incom­pa­ti­bi­li­ties and impair recy­cling. By using trans­pa­rent glass pack­a­ging and dis­pen­sing with cera­mic com­pon­ents, you ful­fil the requi­re­ments of the PPWR and at the same time con­tri­bu­te to a resour­ce-con­ser­ving cir­cu­lar eco­no­my.

PPWR und Recyclingfähigkeit - Tipp 4: Vermeiden Sie Haftetiketten aus Kunststoff auf Glasverpackungen

PPWR & Recy­cling Capa­bi­li­ty

Tip 4: Avo­id pla­s­tic adhe­si­ve labels on glass pack­a­ging

Pla­s­tic adhe­si­ve labels signi­fi­cant­ly impair the recy­cla­bi­li­ty of glass pack­a­ging. The­se labels do not detach from the glass sur­face during the recy­cling pro­cess and act as impu­ri­ties. The recy­cla­bi­li­ty of this pack­a­ging is redu­ced. In accordance with the Cen­tral Agency’s mini­mum stan­dard, the are­as to which the label is atta­ched must be deduc­ted as a per­cen­ta­ge of the quo­ta.

Use paper labels or other mate­ri­als that can be easi­ly remo­ved from the glass sur­face and do not inter­fe­re with the recy­cling pro­cess. In this way, you ful­fil the requi­re­ments of the PPWR by using recy­cling-fri­end­ly mate­ri­als.

PPWR und Recyclingfähigkeit - Tipp 5: Achten Sie auf den Mindeststandard bei biologisch abbaubaren Verpackungen

PPWR & Recy­cling Capa­bi­li­ty

Tip 5: Adhe­re to Stan­dards for Biode­gra­da­ble Pack­a­ging

Accor­ding to the PPWR, all pack­a­ging must be recy­clable from 2030 (at least 70% recy­cla­bi­li­ty). Pack­a­ging that is con­side­red biode­gra­da­ble or com­post­a­ble does not have an estab­lished recy­cling infra­struc­tu­re.

Accor­ding to the cen­tral agency’s mini­mum stan­dard, pack­a­ging made of biode­gra­da­ble or com­post­a­ble pla­s­tics, PLA, cel­lu­lo­se hydra­te, cera­mics or natu­ral mate­ri­als such as wood is gene­ral­ly assu­med to lack a recy­cling infra­struc­tu­re. They are usual­ly not remo­ved in the sort­ing pro­cess, are the­r­e­fo­re not recy­cled and are gene­ral­ly not cate­go­ri­sed as recy­clable.

Use pack­a­ging mate­ri­als that can be recy­cled in accordance with the mini­mum stan­dard of the Cen­tral Agen­cy in order to ful­fil the requi­re­ments of the PPWR, which will app­ly from 2030. Recy­cling via the orga­nic was­te bin is also not recom­men­ded, as the recy­cling tar­gets will not be met here eit­her.

PPWR und Recyclingfähigkeit - Tipp 6: Verwenden Sie Monomaterialien und nachhaltige Klebstoffe

PPWR & Recy­cling Capa­bi­li­ty

Tip 6: Use mono­ma­te­ri­als and sus­tainable adhe­si­ves

Com­po­si­te mate­ri­als and non-water-solu­b­le adhe­si­ves on pack­a­ging make recy­cling con­sider­a­b­ly more dif­fi­cult. For exam­p­le, such ele­ments impair the sepa­ra­ti­on of recy­clable mate­ri­als in sort­ing plants. Pack­a­ging with low recy­cla­bi­li­ty leads to addi­tio­nal cos­ts or even legal con­se­quen­ces due to new regu­la­ti­ons such as the PPWR. From 2030, all pack­a­ging must be at least 70% recy­clable. Focus on mono-mate­ri­als and use adhe­si­ves that can be easi­ly dis­sol­ved in the recy­cling pro­cess to ful­fil the PPWR regu­la­ti­ons.

PPWR & Recy­cling Capa­bi­li­ty

Tip 7: Incor­po­ra­te Recy­cla­tes

Pack­a­ging is often made from pri­ma­ry raw mate­ri­als, alt­hough recy­cla­tes are a sus­tainable alter­na­ti­ve. A lack of recy­cla­bi­li­ty and too litt­le demand for recy­cled mate­ri­als leads to inef­fi­ci­ent uti­li­sa­ti­on of the recy­cling cycle.

Valuable resour­ces are was­ted and the life cycle of mate­ri­als remains unutili­sed.

The PPWR sti­pu­la­tes from 01.01.2030:

The pla­s­tic con­tent of recy­cled mate­ri­als that must be reco­ver­ed from con­su­mer pla­s­tic was­te:

  • 30% for cont­act-sen­si­ti­ve pack­a­ging with PET as the main com­po­nent;
  • 10% for cont­act-sen­si­ti­ve pack­a­ging made from pla­s­tic mate­ri­als other than PET, exclu­ding sin­gle-use pla­s­tic drinks bot­t­les;
  • 30% for sin­gle-use pla­s­tic drinks bot­t­les;
  • 35% for other pla­s­tic pack­a­ging not pre­vious­ly men­tio­ned.

(Excep­ti­ons for pri­ma­ry pack­a­ging, pack­a­ging for medi­cal pro­ducts or com­post­a­ble pla­s­tic pack­a­ging)

Design your pack­a­ging to be recy­clable, pro­mo­te sor­ted was­te coll­ec­tion and use tech­ni­cal pro­ces­ses to reco­ver recy­cla­tes. This can redu­ce the use of pri­ma­ry raw mate­ri­als. Inte­gra­te recy­cla­tes into your pack­a­ging designs to com­ply with PPWR requi­re­ments and make a sus­tainable con­tri­bu­ti­on to the cir­cu­lar eco­no­my.

For an over­view of PPWR regu­la­ti­ons, visit: Over­view and sum­ma­ry of the PPWR Regu­la­ti­on

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Ensure your packaging meets PPWR requirements

The recyclability of packaging plays a central role in the PPWR regulation. This requires recyclable packaging with an increasing proportion of recyclate from 2030. Companies should therefore optimise their packaging design now in order to meet legal requirements and strengthen the circular economy.

Further information:

Overview and summary of the PPWR Regulation

Assessing recyclability - rotate

Contact our rotate project manager

Profilbild Peter El-Gazzar Noventiz
We’re experts in packaging licensing, all types of take-back solutions and the assessment of recyclability in accordance with Section 21 of the German Packaging Act (VerpackG).
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