Labelling of packaging

The right labelling for sustainable packaging.

Basis

The environmental impact of packaging and packaging waste is to be reduced in Europe. To this end, Regulation 94/62/EC was adopted for all EU member states. The law applies in principle to all types of packaging and is the responsibility of the distributor of packaged goods. This means that online retailers are also included. It is intended to encourage manufacturers and distributors to produce packaging from recyclable materials. Packaging is defined as anything that is used to contain, protect and handle the delivery or presentation of goods. Sales and outer packaging, as well as transport and storage packaging that facilitates the handling of sales units.

What is it about in detail:

Packaging materials that enter an EU country are affected. This is because these countries are obliged by the regulation to label each packaging with its material and indicate how it is to be used after use.
To identify the material used, packaging must always be labelled with a recycling code. This is done for our corrugated cardboard products with the code PAP 20 and for our solid cardboard products with the code PAP 21. The code can be applied by printing or perforation with Perfa-Type.
The 3-arrow symbol, the so-called Möbius loop, is generally used to indicate the recycling option (use after use) of the packaging. As there are several recycling symbols in circulation, image utilisation or copyright laws must be observed. However, the regulation and the EU countries do not specify what the symbol must look like in detail. All that is required is that the labelling is clearly visible. However, the coding of the packaging with PAP 20 or PAP 21 is mandatory. Below you will find a list of the recycling symbols used by the model, including the respective model code and a description of the symbol.

The symbols of Model

Symbol 1

Resy

The lettering in the symbol indicates that the respective manufacturer has a licence/right of use from RESY Organisation für Wertstoffentsorgung GmbH and thus fulfils the requirements for taking back and recycling used transport and outer packaging made of paper, solid and corrugated cardboard. When using the logo, the corresponding licence number/identification number of the packaging manufacturer must be used. (1) | Resy.de

Symbol 2

Recycling-Symbol

This general recycling symbol indicates return to the recycling loop. The three arrows represent the recycling loop. (1)

Symbol 3

PAP 20 & PAP 21

The use of this symbol is subject to the Packaging Act and defines the packaging material. It helps the end user to identify the material and return it to the correct recycling cycle. (1)

(1) PAP xx is the recycling code for paper and corrugated cardboard. The numbers 20 to 39 are reserved for paper and cardboard. Three codes are currently defined: PAP 20 - corrugated cardboard, PAP 21 - other cardboard (solid cardboard), PAP 22 - paper.

Responsibilities

As the customer or distributor, you are responsible for the design and use of the code and symbol on all your goods. In some countries, sufficient labelling via the delivery documents is accepted, but this only applies to packaging for B2B (business-to-business) business relationships. For B2C (business-to-customer) and especially for mail order, the above-mentioned features must be applied to the goods.