Improving packaging design and circularity is a shared effort that drives better understanding and progress. A major multi-country testing program reflects that spirit, bringing new insights, clearer understanding, and practical evidence to support informed design choices.
Dennis Bankmann, an independent scientific consultant to CEFLEX, shares reflections from work that generated over 1,700 data points – now available as open-access resources, including NIR, eddy current, metal detection, size and shape, and mechanical recyclability data at guidelines.ceflex.eu
When you look across nearly two years of testing and over 600 samples, what are some of the key takeaways that come to mind to help progress how industry evaluates recyclability?
One clear insight was the value of better understanding what and how tests behave. For instance, extrusion pressure varies naturally by around ten percent in a stable pilot run. Any value below that is not a sign of instability. It is how the equipment behaves in general. Additionally, if you rely on a small number of individual pressure readings, you risk reaching the wrong conclusion. Only continuous monitoring shows the full picture and makes it easier to see if a material is causing a real issue or if the variation for example comes from feeding issues.
We also saw the importance of standardising visual assessments. For example, melt filters and plastic pellets can look different depending on the lighting used in for photographs. Once such influences are controlled, the assessments become clearer. These practical refinements help strengthen confidence in the outcomes and give the value chain more reliable information to work with.
Working together to elevate how we test and apply results generated was really important to the team, academic partners and network of laboratories, as the evidence produced was used to underpin the latest flexible design guidance from CEFLEX. Data has also supported the development of the CEN recyclability evaluation protocol standards for PE and PP flexible packaging, which are expected to inform future secondary legislation under the PPWR.
Several testing results show the potential for variability between laboratories. Which areas should be harmonised to improve confidence in the results?
Most of the potential for variation we found comes from how tests are set up and from differences in equipment, not from the test principles themselves.
Filter assessment is a good example of where shared practice helps. Aligning run length, throughput, and mass of extruded material helps ensure that the control sample and the test sample are compared on equal terms. Removing excess resin before inspection, using fixed lighting conditions, and applying a colour-controlled photography and reporting workflow make assessments more consistent.
These refinements support a more coherent interpretation of results. They help everyone work with a clearer evidence base, which is important for design decisions and for future alignment under the PPWR.
How should the flexible packaging value chain use these learnings to design packaging that performs better in recyclability tests and, importantly, in real recycling plants?
The various insights help make design decisions more predictable. They show clearly what supports stable processing and clean sorting. Focusing on PE and PP designs without layers of incompatible materials remains the strongest foundation for recyclability in Europe’s existing systems. Keeping all integrated components and constituents within defined limits also helps secure better outcomes for both processability and recyclate quality.
Most importantly, all this knowledge is open and available to everyone. The aim has always been to support collective progress. The more widely these insights are used, the more aligned the value chain can become in robust recyclability testing, supporting the achievement of PPWR requirements.
The updated ‘Designing for a Circular Economy’ (D4ACE) guidelines and all accompanying open access reports are available at https://guidelines.ceflex.eu. Download the materials, explore the insights and use them to guide design decisions, strengthen collaboration, and support the continued transition to more circular flexible packaging.
Dennis Bankmann, independent scientific consultant to CEFLEX