In February 2025, Cepi published version 3 of its Recyclability Laboratory Test Method. The Test Method defines a laboratory procedure emulating the most relevant phases (pulping, screening, sheet formation) of a typical paper mill dedicated to the recycling of the most common grades of paper and board without flotation-deinking technology or other special features.
This method and the values it generates is used by 4evergreen as a basis for the ongoing development of the 4evergreen Fibre-based Packaging Recyclability Evaluation Protocol to evaluate the recyclability of fibre-based packaging in recycling mills with conventional process. The definition of recycling mills with conventional process remains identical with the previous definition of standard mills as described in paper-based packaging recyclability guidelines by Cepi, ACE, Citpa, FEFCO: https://www.cepi.org/paper-based-packaging-recyclability-guidelines /
During the development work, a lot of tests based on the Cepi test method were carried out. Testing institutes gathered valuable information and experience enabling the method to be further developed. This resulted in two subsequent revisions of the Cepi’s recyclability laboratory test method; version 2 was finalised in July 2022 and version 3 was finalised in February 2025.
Further to the development of the recyclability evaluation protocol within 4evergreen, version 3 of the Cepi test method tackles the following main elements:
1. New name of the method version 3: Paper and Board –Recyclability Laboratory Test Method –Part I: Recycling mill with conventional process. Part 2 (recycling mill with deinking process) and part 3 (recycling mill with special process) have been developed by 4evergreen and are available here: https://4evergreenforum.eu/about/industry-tools-and-guidelines/
2. Within the filtrate analysis, beside the already optional determination of the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), the parameter Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) was added as additional option.
3. Improved wording of sheet adhesion test procedure and assessment:
a. More detailed description of sheet adhesion test procedure includes a performance video.
b. Improved description of sheet adhesion (SA) levels, including more detailed pictures.
4. Improved description of 20 min disintegration option: if coarse and/or fine reject add up to more then 15 % reject and show a significant amount of fibres.
5. Improved Reject Characterisation (RC) approach via a reject characterisation tree.
6. Improved preparation procedure of macrostickies specimen in order to improve representativeness:
a. No reduction of sample amount (5g) during screening, instead a distribution onto several filter papers has to be performed.
b. Defined amount of corundum powder for the specimen preparation.
In order to evaluate the technical recyclability of paper-based packaging in recycling mills with conventional process, the method can be used in combination with the 4evergreen recyclability evaluation protocol.
4evergreen published Version one of the recyclability evaluation protocols on 30 January 2025 and it can be found here: https://4evergreenforum.eu/about/industry-tools-and-guidelines/
Download the Test method and the annexes.
Download the excel version of the Laboratory report template.
The list of laboratories testing paper products according to the Cepi recyclability laboratory test method can be found here.
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