Building recyclability into every layer

Paper based composite packaging and barrier papers are often assumed to cause problems in the recycling stream. We asked Janne Varvemaa, Director, Products and Technology at UPM Specialty Materials, why that assumption exists, and what changes when packaging is designed differently.

The concern is understandable, because thick coating layers reduce the recycling yield and can genuinely create challenges at the recycling mill. When a structure has laminate layers or a high proportion of non-paper content that adhere strongly or absorb to the paper, it is harder for the repulping process to separate the fibre and other material suitable for recycling cleanly.

But that is a design question, not a fixed property of fibre-based packaging. When you start with a base paper engineered for high recycling yield, one with a dense surface that allows coatings to be applied thinly and still perform, and then align the barrier chemistry and converting around the same goal, the structure behaves well in repulping. The coating layer releases cleanly, and because the separation is clean, paper part of the structure is available for recycling.

A great example of a recyclable structure is oneBARRIER FibreCycle, designed together with BOBST and Michelman. This high-barrier packaging has a ultra-thin vacuum metallized layer, which is designed to detach in recycling.

Janne Varvemaa, Director, Products and Technology, UPM Specialty Materials

You talk about the importance of co-creation to ensure the end package is recyclable. Why is that?

Our papers are engineered with a dense surface. In practice, that means barrier coatings can be applied by packaging converters in thinner layers while still delivering the performance the application needs. Thinner coatings mean higher paper share in structure, which directly drives recycling yield. But that engineering only delivers on its promise if the coating applied on top is also designed with recyclability in mind.

This is why we work with the full chain. Co-creation means everyone is working toward the same certified outcome, from the base paper through to the finished pack.

Can you give any practical examples of solutions where co-creation has helped develop a recyclable structure?

oneBARRIER FibreCycle is a good one. It is a high-barrier structure for long shelf-life products, things like coffee, instant soups, and milk powders, that have traditionally been packaged in multilayer plastic laminate structures. We developed it together with BOBST and Michelman over several years.

The structure uses UPM Solide Lucent as the base paper, BOBST AluBond metallisation, i.e. an aluminium layer down to one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair, and Michelman's water-based coating system. Each partner brought specific expertise, and the whole structure was designed from the start to be recyclable in existing fibre recycling streams.

The result is 94.6% recyclable material yield, verified across four independent certification methods. The metallised and coating layers are designed to flake off in large pieces during repulping, so they screen out cleanly rather than contaminating the fibre. That is what good recycling yield looks like in practice. And it only happens because everyone in the chain was working toward the same outcome from day one.

How does UPM Specialty Materials in practice ensure recyclability when developing new packaging structures with customers or co-creation partners?

The final certification is always done by independent, third-party organisations. The tests follow recognised standards, and the results either pass or they do not.

What we do is make sure the structure is ready before it gets to that point. During co-creation, we test the material in our own labs using the same methods as the certification bodies. If there is an issue, whether it is coating thickness, chemistry compatibility, or something in the converting process, we find it early, when adjustments are still straightforward.

The alternative is discovering a problem after the packaging has already been designed, printed, and launched. That is a very expensive place to find out the structure does not pass.

What should a packaging converter or brand owner take away from this?

That the recyclability of your packaging is determined by decisions made across the whole value chain, and that those decisions need to be made together and early.

Make sure to design for recycling from the start – you cannot add recyclability later. In general, I recommend keeping coating layers thin and paper content high.. Ask whether the full chain, paper, coating, converting, has been aligned around a certified outcome. I also advise you to test recyclability before certification, not after.

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