What does it mean?

A recycled material is a recovered material obtained through reprocessing of a previously used raw material for the same or different purpose. For instance, recycled steel, plastics etc.

Why is it important?

Incorporating a recycled material ensures circular economy in the life cycle of the product. It increases the efficiency of the material’s life instead of taking the path of take-use-dispose. Recycling leads to the reduction of the need to grow or extract new raw materials from the Earth. This in turn reduces dependence on more land, trees and negative impact on biodiversity.

Manufacturing of products from recycled materials mostly requires less energy than making them from new raw materials. For example, production of recycled aluminum uses 95% less energy than virgin aluminum. Further, for steel, 70% of the energy is saved.

What does it mean?

Renewable material is comprised of raw material that are obtained from plants or biomass. In contrast to fossil raw materials that use crude oil in the manufacturing of different products, renewable material forms a part of the biobased carbon cycle and thus does not contribute directly to the greenhouse effect.

Why is it important?

There are various inherent benefits for the environment when using renewable materials. During growth, renewable materials absorb carbon dioxide and subsequently act as carbon storage. At the end-of-life, when they are incinerated or composted, they do not contribute to net emissions of carbon dioxide in the environment; in contrast to fossil-based products.

Research shows the environmental benefits of using them as feedstock and reusing or recycling them Over 70% of paper and board is being recycled in most of the countries in EU (based on Eurostat Figures).

What does it mean?

In recent times, materials can be obtained from products that are conventionally discarded as waste or by-products. Modern research and innovation has made it possible to make use of materials previously discarded as waste, thus increasing the value of the product and avoiding further extraction of virgin materials.

Why is it important?

Waste materials are considered as a major environmental problem and a threat to the environment. More production equals more waste and more waste creates environmental concerns of toxic threat. An economical viable solution to this problem is to utilize waste materials for new products, which in turn minimizes the heavy burden on landfills.

What does it mean?

The companies offering the products in our platform must not violate the human rights of the individuals working for it. It also helps in incorporating social sustainability. We check for documentation for compliance with the global (GSCP) Standard or equivalent national standard.

Why is it important?

Along with environmental sustainability we consider social sustainability to be equally important. The SDGs by United Nations also promotes social factors to be taken into account for estimating sustainability comprehensively. Ethical working conditions is a basic right of human beings. Social sustainability also covers the human rights of specific groups: labour, women's empowerment and gender equality, children, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, as well as people-centered approaches to business impacts on poverty.

What does it mean?

Responsible cultivation means that the raw material is obtained from certified sustainably cultivated lands. The certification also ensures that traditional and human rights are not violated during the cultivation phase. This implies that the material is not obtained from protected or indigenous areas.

The Key certifications include:

• International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS (all sources)
• FSC (forest)
• PEFC (forest)
• Farm Sustainability Assessment FSA (agriculture)

Why is it important?

Sustainable harvesting of resources is an important part of creating and maintaining a circular economy. Being able to provide a reasonably constant supply of a resource while not impacting future harvesting is vital.

Additionally, ensuring that protected areas are not used as harvesting grounds is an important factor to maintain biodiversity. Protected areas often act as habitats for multiple species, and keeping these healthy is also in the best interest of humans as these provide us with key services such as moderating natural phenomenon (e.g., pollination, decomposition & water purification), and more material services such as pharmaceutical ingredients.

What does it mean?

The energy use in the product’s supply chain is mainly obtained from renewable energy. Renewable energy is generated through natural sources that are replenished at a similar pace that they are used up. The examples include wind energy, hydropower and solar energy. For instance, sunlight or wind keeps shining and blowing, even if their availability depends on time and weather. In recent times, renewable energy has become more readily available and used since research has made it possible to harness the energy through innovative and comparatively cheaper ways. Renewable energy corresponds to 26% of the world’s electricity today, though the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects it to grow to 30% by 2024.

Why is it important?

Energy demand in the world is increasing faster than the limits of installable generation capacity. Thus, future energy demands should be met and improved efficiently and securely. Energy solutions need to be supported by utilization of renewable energy sources.

Cost, market share and policy are the main barriers for the development of renewable energy. In the strategy plans of many countries, sustainable development is supported by their energy policies. New enabling technologies for renewable energies can also aid in reducing environmental costs, and thus the energy systems can operate both securely and economically without additional impacts on the environment.

What does it mean?

REACH, stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It entered into force on 1 June 2007 by the European Chemical Agency. Under this, a list of dangerous substances is provided that are restricted for use in the EU market. This is because these substances contain unacceptable risk to human health and/or the environment.

Presently, there are 59 categories of restricted substances in REACH that contain more than 1000 substances. Some of these include lead, PAHs, Phthalates, PFOS etc.

Why is it important?

Many chemicals used in different products and processes can be very harmful and dangerous to our health and the environment. Such chemicals need to be banned for use. The REACH List is one of the most progressive chemical standards in the world. It acts as a great reference point for companies aiming to achieve management of sustainable and non-toxic chemicals.

What does it mean?

This product’s supply chain is localized, with its production facility, sourcing area and delivery locations all within the EU area.

Why is it important?

By having a localized supply chain, transport costs can be greatly reduced, along with limiting a product’s carbon footprint. Air transport and long-distance road transports contribute significantly to GHG emissions.

The aviation sector is currently responsible for about 2% of global emissions and is becoming a fast-growing polluter. According to research about its projections, emissions from the sector could be more than double by 2050 even if planes become more fuel-efficient.

What does it mean?

We make sure that the companies offering the products in our platform do not violate the human rights of the individuals working for it. It also helps in incorporating social sustainability. We check for documentation for compliance with the global (GSCP) Standard or equivalent national standard along with audits.

Why is it important?

Along with environmental sustainability we consider social sustainability to be equally important. The SDGs by United Nations also promotes social factors to be taken into account for estimating sustainability comprehensively. Ethical working conditions is a basic right of human beings. Social sustainability also covers the human rights of specific groups: labour, women's empowerment and gender equality, children, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, as well as people-centered approaches to business impacts on poverty.

What does it mean?

For a product to be carbon neutrally produced it means that the amount of carbon dioxide emissions released during the production process are removed in some way so that the total carbon dioxide emissions reach a net level of zero. Some examples of how companies can make their production carbon neutral is to recycle materials, use biobased sources, reduce production waste, or use renewable energy. Other ways include investing in climate offsets to compensate for emissions. This can be done through investing in renewable energy projects so that emissions are reduced elsewhere.

Why is it important?

One of the main culprits causing global warming is the excessive release of carbon dioxide (aka CO2). Together with a few other greenhouse gases, CO2 traps incoming solar radiation to the point where the Earth’s atmosphere is increasingly getting hotter. To avoid the feared 1.5 to 2 degrees of global temperature increase, global carbon dioxide emissions need to be reduced by around 7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030. Reaching carbon neutrality will be a vital step, and all sectors will have to aim for it if we are to have a chance at limiting global warming, so why not start at the packaging industry?

What does it mean?

ISO 14001 sets out a framework that a company or organization can follow to enable an effective environmental management system. It can be designed for any type of organization and sector.

Such an environmental management system is a systematic framework to manage the immediate and long-term environmental impacts of an organisation’s products, services, and processes.

Why is it important?

Through ISO 14001 certification an organisation can assure its stakeholders that their environmental management system meets international industry specific environmental standards. Along with minimizing the organization’s environmental footprint, it reduces the risk of pollution incidents, provides operational improvements, and ensures compliance with relevant environmental legislation.

More Benefits of ISO 14001 include:

• Reduction of risk of pollution incidents
• Provision of operational improvements
• Ensure compliance with relevant environmental legislation.
• Identification of cost savings with greater emphasis on resource, waste and energy management
• Enhancement of corporate image and credibility
• Monitoring of the impact of operations on the environment, now and in the future
• More access to business partners and potential customers

What does it mean?

The ink and glue used in this product has been made with consideration for the end of life. Following the European Printing and Ink Association recommendations, as little ink as possible should be used, limiting the share of ink to less than 5% of the total weight of the packaging, and lighter shades of ink is preferred. Additionally, using plant-based inks can be preferable to petroleum-based, as they are made from renewable sources, however the recycling process is not very much affected by this choice.

Why is it important?

Certain inks, when fed into the recycling process need to be removed using a process called de-inking (which can be done several ways), so as not to contaminate and mix into the new recycled material. Pigment-based inks use small color particles suspended in liquid, while dye-based inks consist of dye that is dissolved in water. Dye-based are harder to remove using the most common technique, flotation. Instead, bleaching is often required, which takes a higher toll on the environment. 

What does it mean?

Many packaging products are often a mix of different materials. For example, cardboard boxes with small windows made of plastic film. Material mix can also be using different ratios of conventional plastic with bio-based plastics, which could cause a problem as the conventional plastic might be recyclable while the bio-based is not. Multiple layers of a material with different properties, such as insulating plastic between paper layers is another example of potentially difficult separation design. To increase the likelihood of recycling, products with different materials should be made easy to separate either by the user before throwing it away, or by the recycling (or composting) facilities.

Why is it important?

Ensuring easy separation of different materials can play a major role in facilitating recycling, as very often products are not recycled due to them not fitting into the waste stream. Paper cannot be recycled in the same process as plastic, and same goes with aluminum and glass, which is why if these materials can be separated before disposal by the user the chances of it ending up in recycling increase. Promoting and facilitating recycling is a key step towards achieving a circular society, where precious materials and resources are kept in use as long as possible.

What does it mean?

Going hand-in-hand with ease of separation, a packaging product with a minimal number of materials will have a higher likelihood of ending up in recycling.

Why is it important?

The more materials that a product is made up of, the harder it will be to recycle (unless it is easy to separate). As mentioned for the label Easily Separated Components, making products easy to recycle is an important design step and will contribute to the move towards circularity.

What does it mean?

Reusable products can be reused after initial use for similar or other purposes than the initial intention, without modification of the product. Some daily examples of reusable products are beeswax wraps, cloth bags and reusable plastic straws.

Reusability can be paralleled with recyclability in some ways when looking at the core idea; to keep a material in circulation.

Why is it important?

Similar to recyclable products, being able to reuse something rather than purchasing something new brings many benefits. Less waste is disposed of as these products are kept in use longer than single-use alternatives. Additionally, production costs and exploitation levels of natural resources are also reduced.

Giving a product the characteristics to be able to be continuously used after serving its initial purpose will greatly extend its lifetime and keep it away from landfill. Clearly indicating that a product can be reused will also help the consumer make good choices about their purchases.

What does it mean?

A recyclable product can be deconstructed and processed after serving its original purpose and used to create a new product to give the old material a new life. The recycling of materials and waste consists of three main steps. As presented by the Environmental Protection Agency, recycling starts with collection and processing. The collecting part is simple enough yet relies on consumer awareness to correctly separate what can and cannot be recycled. Processing means that the waste is sorted by size, color and specific material type, and later cleaned and disinfected. With the original material processed, it is ready to be used as any raw material would be. New products can then be manufactured using this recycled material.

It is important to mention that a material cannot be defined as recyclable if it’s not collected for recycling in the market where it exists, even if it is proven to be recyclable through research. Today, very few materials are viable for recycling. These include- glass, aluminum, steel, paper, paper board and some kinds of plastic such as HDPE, LDPE PET and rigid PP.

Why is it important?

Recycling is one of the key components in a circular economy. Being able to use raw materials more than once and extending their lifetime comes with many advantages. The amount of waste that must be sent to landfills is greatly reduced, as is the costly exploitation of natural resources such as timber, water and minerals.

Another significant benefit studied by the EPA was the economic advantages that recycling can bring. In 2016, recycling activities and industry accounted for 681,000 jobs and 5.5 billion dollars in tax revenues in the United States. Applying this on a global scale the benefits would be significant.

What does it mean?

A product that is biodegradable in nature will fully decompose in the ambient conditions of the natural environment, usually in any natural environment where microorganisms are present. These products will degrade into their basic components and, if consisting of the correct ingredients, will leave behind only natural residuals that will be integrated back into the environment by natural processes. However, it is important to remember that there is not one ‘natural environment’ that offers up the same conditions for degradation. For example, the microbial density and temperature are usually higher in soil than in water.

*Similar to composting, there exists some non-standardized certification schemes - such as TÜV Austria - that companies can use to get their products tested and certified for biodegradability.

A very important distinction always needs to be made between ‘Biodegradable’, ‘Compostable’ and ‘Biodegradable in nature’. All compostable products are biodegradable, however not all biodegradable products are compostable in nature. As presented in our description on industrially compostable and home compostable, products falling under these categories require specific temperature, pressure and chemical conditions to varying degrees in order to decompose properly. A product that can decompose in nature does not require such strict requirements.

Due to these commonly interchanged definitions, it is crucial that these degradability characteristics are fully understood by the producer and that they are clearly defined to the consumer.

The time scale of natural biodegradability is equally important to remember. A product might be biodegradable in nature, but if it takes 150 years for it to finally break down then the whole purpose of the intended biodegradation is missed.

Why is it important?

Biodegradability ensures that if the product ends up in nature, it does not interfere with the ecosystem. For example, if it gets eaten by a fish or other animal, it does not harm the food chain. Also, it creates less litter in the environment. Contrary to plastics, it ensures that the whole product is disposed off in the nature and does not leave behind harmful components such as microplastics.

What does it mean?

Home compostable products can be fully decomposed in composting spaces with very few requirements on temperature and pressure. The 3 basic composting components according to the Environmental Protection Agency are ‘browns’ (e.g. dead leaves, branches and twigs), ‘greens’ (e.g. grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps) and water. The greens and browns need to be balanced for optimal composting conditions. Water ensures a sufficient moisture level, the browns provide carbon to the process, while the greens make sure there is nitrogen.

Whilst conditions for home composting are much milder than industrial composting, the time taken to decompose a material is longer: it can take between 2 months to 2 years before the compost is ready to use as soil or fertilizer.

*The certifier TÜV Austria offers a certification scheme for home composting of products and for industrial composting based on standard EN 13432.

Why is it important?

A major benefit of home composting is of course the simplicity; all that is required is water and an appropriate storage space and obviously the organic material to be composted. Other advantages include the decrease of methane otherwise created in landfills, and the reduction in costs for civil waste management services; both monetary but also in terms of carbon dioxide emissions tied to the removed need for transportation of waste to landfills or industrial composting facilities. Home composting also provides nutrient-rich humus (an organic left-over from decayed organic material) that keeps soil healthy for planting and therefore a reduced need for chemical fertilizers.

In some European countries, especially where industrial composting infrastructure is not or only partly established, home composting has been identified as an opportunity for managing a part of the domestic biodegradable waste stream.

What does it mean?

Industrially compostable materials and products can be fully decomposed through specialized, industrial composting facilities. In order to be certified as a compostable product, the material must be able to degrade within 120-180 days. What separates industrially compostable materials from home compostable and naturally biodegradable, is the fact that industrial composting applies higher temperatures (>70 degrees centigrade) and other conditions to speed up decomposition. That means that materials broken down in an industrial composter are not necessarily broken-down in-home composting or the natural environment.

A common bio-based polymer often sold as compostable is Polylactic Acid (PLA); This is an example of a material that is industrially compostable but will not degrade in nature nor in home composts (at least not in at any meaningful rate), where the conditions are not harsh enough to allow microbes to decompose the material.

The output of an industrial composting plant, most often agricultural fertilizer, needs to be of high quality and uncontaminated for farms to be able to use it. The material that the plant receives needs to be properly sorted and separated to avoid degradation problems and contamination, which can add to the already high costs of running an industrial composting plant.

Key certifications:

• ISO 17088:2021
• EN 13432
• ASTM D6400 and/or D6868
• BPI

Why is it important?

Industrial composting is a viable way to dispose of organic waste, as long as awareness exists to properly know what goes to a composting plant and what goes to a landfill. This is not only up to the consumer, but also the producer. Field testing and correctly labelling a product is a key factor in helping the consumer make the right choice. Furthermore, the logistics for correct waste management of compostable trash from city services is just as important to get the compostable material where it needs to get.

Not all markets have industrial composting as a part of their infrastructure and only those products, whose only disposal method is industrial composting, are viable for such markets.

With all these factors considered, composting can have a significant impact on our society such as more job opportunities, less trash being sent to landfills, producing fertilizer for agricultural use, and moreover supporting a circular system for waste.

What does it mean?

Cradle to Cradle Certified® is the global standard for products that are safe, circular, and responsibly made.

It assesses the safety, circularity and responsibility of materials and products across five categories of sustainability performance:

1. Material Health
2. Material Reutilization
3. Renewable Energy & Carbon management
4. Water Stewardship
5. Social fairness

Why is it important?

A product which is Cradle to Cradle certified conveys that it does not pollute the earth and is circular, recyclable and biodegradable. It does not lead to waste and no harmful substances are added. It provides the knowledge on how brands can move towards Circularity and encourages them to incorporate this certification.