4evergreen, a cross-value chain alliance of around 100 member companies from manufacturers, converters to brand owners and recyclers, applauds the paper packaging industry’s pragmatic consensus on the Design for Recycling (DfR) thresholds for conventional mills.  The position developed by Cepi (Confederation of European Paper Industries), has been adopted by Fibre Packaging Europe, representing seven paper industry associations: Cepi, Cepi Eurokraft, European Carton Makers Association (ECMA), European Paper Packaging Alliance (EPPA), Food and Beverage Carton Alliance (FBCA), ProCarton, and the European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers (FEFCO).

4evergreen has been working on developing technical guidance on recyclability of paper-based packaging for the last six years.

“This compromise was long in the making and is an important achievement for the whole paper packaging sector. We support the agreed position and will be initiating a change management process within 4evergreen to reflect the final outcomes of the legislative process on DfR in our technical toolbox deliverables”, said Susan Brunner, Co-Chair of the 4evergreen alliance.

This proposal differentiates between lighter and heavier base papers to ensure paper-based solutions are not disadvantaged compared to fossil-based alternatives and delivers a necessary bridge to enable alignment and progress across the sector. The aims are to support optimal performance across the value chain, maintaining high-quality Paper for Recycling while supporting innovation of new paper-based solutions from renewable materials.

Updates to the 4evergreen toolbox guidelines are planned for Q4 2026, pending the outcomes of the secondary legislation process on Design for Recyclability.

“Our aim is to support cross-value chain collaboration in the paper-based industry and achieve a 90% recycling rate by providing evidence-based technical guidance to further improve an already highly functioning recycling system evident in the 84% recycling rate for paper packaging in the EU today”, concluded Susan Brunner.