Sustainability
Sustainable Packaging That Survives the Specification, Not Just the Brief
Three routes are genuinely available on flexible film: compostable, recycled content, and mono-material recyclable. They are not interchangeable, they cost different things, and each one takes something away as well as giving something. This is what to expect from each before you commit a range to it.
CompostableCertified to EN 13432
RecycledPCR content, declared
RecyclableMono-material PE and PP
Minimum order1,000 pieces per artwork
The Three Routes, and What Each One Actually Gives You
Almost every sustainability brief we receive names one of these three without saying which problem it is meant to solve. They solve different ones. A compostable pouch does nothing for a brand whose customers have no industrial composting collection; a mono-material pouch does nothing for a product that needs a foil barrier.
| Route | What it is | Certified against | What you give up | Where it ends up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compostable | Plant-derived films, usually PLA with a paper or cellulose layer | EN 13432, and its US equivalent | Barrier, shelf life and heat resistance | Industrial composting, where it is collected |
| Recycled content | Conventional film with post-consumer recyclate in the outer layers | Content declared and traceable to the supplier | Little in performance; some in print consistency | The same stream as the film it replaces |
| Mono-material | All-PE or all-PP laminate, so the whole pack is one polymer family | Store drop-off and design-for-recycling schemes | Some barrier, and a narrower sealing window | Flexible film recycling, where it exists |
| Paper-fronted | Kraft outer with a thin functional liner | Depends entirely on the liner | Recyclability, unless the liner is chosen for it | Paper stream only if the liner allows it |
Our compostable range and our recycled-content range both run on the same lines as everything else, so moving a product across is a specification change rather than a new supplier.
What a Claim Has to Survive
EN 13432 Certifies Industrial Composting, Not a Garden Heap
The standard tests disintegration and biodegradation under controlled industrial conditions: sustained temperature, managed moisture, a fixed window. A garden compost heap meets none of those reliably. A pack certified to EN 13432 is correctly described as industrially compostable, and describing it as home compostable is a different claim needing a different certificate.
Recycled Content and Food Contact Are Two Separate Questions
Post-consumer recyclate is not automatically cleared for direct food contact. The usual answer is to place the recycled layer on the outside of the laminate with a virgin food-contact layer against the product, which keeps the declared content and the food-contact evidence both intact. If your product is food, expect this structure rather than recyclate throughout.
Recyclable Depends on Where the Pack Is Thrown Away, Not on the Film
A mono-material PE pouch is recyclable where flexible film is collected, and is not where it is not. That varies by country and often by municipality, so the honest claim names the route: store drop-off, or a specific national scheme. We can tell you what the structure is; what your market collects is a question for your market.
What the Regulator Is Moving Towards
Extended producer responsibility schemes across Europe and a growing number of US states now price packaging by weight and by how recyclable it is. That has made film thickness and material choice a cost line rather than only an environmental one, which is usually the argument that gets a sustainability project approved internally.
Where the Trade-Offs Actually Bite
None of this is free, and being told where the cost lands is more useful than being told it does not exist.
- Barrier and shelf life. Compostable films have meaningfully higher oxygen and moisture transmission than a PET/PE laminate. For a dry product with a short cycle this is invisible; for coffee or anything fatty, it is the whole question.
- Sealing window. Mono-material PE seals at a temperature close to where the rest of the pack starts to distort, so the window is narrower. It runs, but the line runs slower and the seal is checked harder.
- Machinability. If you fill on your own form-fill-seal line, a change of film changes how it tracks and seals. This is the failure that turns up after the order arrives, so send us your line details before, not after.
- Print. Kraft and compostable substrates absorb ink differently and reproduce a narrower gamut. A Pantone that was easy on white PET may need reworking, which is what the proofing stage is for.
- Cost. Compostable film carries the largest premium, recycled content the smallest. Mono-material sits between them and often closes the gap once EPR fees are counted.
What We Can Put in Writing
A sustainability claim on a pack is a claim your customer, your retailer and eventually a regulator can ask you to evidence. These are the documents we issue for the ranges we run, and we issue them for the structure actually quoted rather than as a general statement.
- Certification for compostable films, referencing the standard and the certificate holder.
- A recycled-content declaration stating the percentage and which layers carry it.
- Food-contact declarations for the layer against the product.
- A full structure specification: every layer, its polymer and its thickness in microns.
- Oxygen and moisture transmission figures for the quoted structure, which is what a shelf-life calculation actually needs.
What we will not do is certify your finished pack as recyclable in a market whose collection we cannot see. We will tell you what it is made of, accurately, and that is the part we can stand behind. The wider quality and audit position is set out on the plant page.
Choosing Between the Three
In practice the decision is usually made by the product, not by preference.
- A dry product with a short shelf life, sold to a customer who composts: compostable works and reads well.
- A product needing real barrier, where the brand wants a visible improvement: recycled content, because it changes nothing about performance.
- A product with moderate barrier needs in a market with film collection: mono-material PE, which is where most of the industry is heading.
- A premium dry product where the shelf presence matters as much as the claim: a kraft outer with the liner chosen for whichever route above you have picked.
- Anything oxygen-critical, such as coffee or milk powder: a foil or high-barrier structure, with recycled content in the outer layers as the realistic improvement.
Send Us the Brief
Tell us what goes in the pack, roughly how much of it, and where it is sold. That is enough for a specification and a price. Talk to the factory.
Frequently asked
Sustainable Packaging Questions, Answered Plainly
Is compostable packaging always the greenest option?
No. It is the best option where the pack will genuinely reach industrial composting and the product does not need much barrier. Where neither holds, a thinner mono-material pack that gets recycled usually has the lower impact.
Can I say “home compostable”?
Only with a certificate for home composting, which is a separate test from EN 13432 at a lower temperature. Tell us at quoting if you need that claim, because it constrains which films can be used.
How much recycled content can you put in?
It depends on the structure and whether the pack is food contact. For non-food we can go substantially higher than for food, where the layer against the product stays virgin. We state the achievable percentage against your specific structure rather than a headline number.
Does recycled content change the look of the pack?
Slightly. Recyclate carries a faint grey or amber cast that shows through light colours. On a heavily printed pack it is invisible; on a pack with large pale areas we proof it before you commit.
What is mono-material and why does it matter?
A laminate built entirely from one polymer family, PE or PP, instead of the usual PET-plus-PE combination. Recycling equipment separates by polymer, so a single-polymer pack can actually be reprocessed where a mixed one cannot.
Will a sustainable film run on my filling line?
Usually, with adjustment. Compostable and mono-material films have narrower sealing windows than conventional laminate. Send your line make and speed with the enquiry and we will say honestly whether it needs a trial.
How much more does it cost?
Recycled content adds least, compostable most, with mono-material between. The gap has narrowed and EPR fees close it further, so we quote the alternatives side by side rather than quoting one and describing the others.
Can I use less material instead?
Often the most effective single change. Reducing gauge where the product allows cuts material, freight and EPR fees at once. We will say where a structure has room and where it does not.
Do you supply the certificates?
Yes, for the structure quoted, referencing the standard and the certificate holder. We do not issue general environmental statements that are not tied to a specific specification.
What is the minimum order for a sustainable range?
1,000 pieces per artwork, the same as the rest of the catalogue. Trialling a sustainable structure does not carry a higher minimum.