For packers
Designed to be separated and recycled
Our bags with film are made of paper and a mono-material film. Two materials that are each recycled separately, once they have been taken apart. The legislation does not ask for mono-material: it asks that the parts can be separated and recycled.
That is why there is a QR code on the bag that tells your customer exactly how.
Once separated, paper and film are both recyclable, each in its own stream.
Every bag has its route
100% paper
Goes straight in with paper and cardboard.
Paper with film
First separate the film from the paper, then each part goes into its own stream.
Paper with bio-film
Paper goes with paper and cardboard. The bio-film is industrially compostable but never belongs with plastics. Whether it may go in the organic bin depends on the country and the local collector; in Belgium and the Netherlands it usually may not today. Otherwise it goes in the residual waste.
How it works
Two recyclable materials, one condition
The paper
Pure fibres, and those are always recyclable in the paper stream.
The film
Mono-material: one raw material, no inseparable layers. That makes it recyclable, unlike multilayer laminates.
The condition
As long as the film is still attached to the paper, recycling tests count it as reject. So separating is the key.
What you can already do
Optimising is possible today
Your current bag complies, and nothing changes there. But the method for calculating recyclability is not fixed yet, and if you want to go further than what is asked today, there are choices that score better either way.
Lighter film
A thinner film lowers the share of plastic in your bag. Do watch the barrier: with fresh products you cannot go down indefinitely.
Heavier paper
Sturdier paper compensates for the thinner film and shifts the weight towards the recyclable side.
Print the QR code now
Your bags are being printed anyway. With the code on them you already inform your customer today, and that explanation stays current without a reprint.
Towards 2030
mono-material film
harmonised sorting labels (earliest)
recyclability classes (earliest)
Just ask us. If you come across something at a customer or a competitor that does not add up about your bags, call us. We work out together what your packaging does today and think along about paper, film and adhesive.
And the PPWR?
Your duty to inform, handled by us
The PPWR brings a duty to inform: your packaging has to tell the consumer how to sort it. A QR code on your bag is the simplest way to do that today. Whoever scans it gets the right instructions for that type of bag, in their own language.
What the mandatory sorting label will look like is not yet fixed. It comes in 2028 at the earliest, and we will print it with your next run. The QR code remains the place for the explanation per country and language, which we update without reprinting.
How the QR sorting guide works → See what your customer gets → Read what the PPWR does and does not ask of you →
Separating is the whole condition. Our packaging asks nothing more of your customer.
Let's discuss what the PPWR means for your packaging, and how to get the QR sorting guide on your bags.