The research has studied some factors including the material’s innate strength, crush resistance, and swelling capacity: the results show that paper and board folding boxes represent a highly sustainable packaging solution that can seemingly be recycled multiple times and whose number of recycling cycles is limited mainly due to the waste paper collection rate and the losses that occur during cleaning of the fiber materials.
According to Eurostat, paper and board have by far the highest recycling rate of all packaging materials, reaching around 85% in 2019; and the paper industry – acting through the 4Evergreen alliance – is even aiming to raise the overall recycling rate of fibre-based packaging in Europe to 90% by 2030.
In fact, for the industry, it is crucial to collect, sort and recycle all fibre materials in the market: the more often the same item of packaging can be recycled, the more positive its impact on the environment. Virgin and recovered fibre are equally important for the circular economy, which is something many brands and retailers are looking to support.
To find out more, read the research at the link