REAL RECYCLABILITY

For packaging to be considered recyclable it has to be actually recycled. When packaging becomes waste, it has to go through several stages to become a quality recycled material. In addition, there must be a sorting and recycling stream in place on a large scale and with sufficient coverage throughout the country for it to be considered recyclable.

There is packaging which is technically recyclable, but which is not actually recycled, either because it is not sorted correctly, or because there is no sorting stream or recycling stream, or because it is not economically viable to recycle it.

Similarly, there is packaging that follows the theoretical precepts of recyclability, but is not recycled, either because when it is subjected to actual recycling processes (and not under idyllic conditions) it generates some kind of interference in the process, or because there is no sorting and/or recycling stream in a given country.

Also, recycling flows and/or processes may vary from one country to another, so the actual recyclability of the packaging has to be tested according to the characteristics and flows of each country.

DESIGNED TO BE RECYCLED ≠ REAL RECYCLABLE

TECHNICALLY RECYCLABLE ≠ REALLY RECYCLABLE

RECYCLABLE IN A PROCESS STEP ≠ REALLY RECYCLABLE

RECYCLABLE IN A LABORATORY ≠ REALLY RECYCLABLE

Real recyclability (Our definition since 2018)

The ability of a packaging to achieve the conversion of its component materials into quality recycled materials, taking into account its characteristics and the collection, sorting and recycling technologies currently available on an industrial scale and with sufficient geographical coverage in each country for this purpose.

Quality recycled material (Our definition since 2018)

Material obtained from the recycling process of a packaging and/or packaging components, capable of replacing virgin raw material in recycling cycles of the same material in its use.

For this purpose, the packaging and its components must meet a series of requirements in order to be susceptible to becoming, after use and its contribution to the recycling system set up for this purpose, a secondary material comparable to the original in its characteristics. In short, the amount of material available for quality recycling of packaging is the amount of packaging material that is capable of being converted (after the recycling processes) into the same packaging material from which it was manufactured, even if it is then used in practice to manufacture another product from it.