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EuPIA position paper on deinking of plastic packaging waste

The printing ink industry supplies inks and coatings to the packaging value chain. A
relevant proportion of these products are applied on flexible plastic packaging films
and on rigid plastic packaging. Flexible packaging films are either surface or lamination
printed. On rigid plastic packaging, the inks and coatings are either directly printed or
are applied on shrink sleeves or on labels attached to the rigid plastic body.

EuPIA supports the EU Commission’s goal to foster circularity of packaging and reduce
packaging waste. The upcoming EU regulation on packaging and packaging waste
provides measures to achieve this goal, among which, specific stipulations for the use
of recycled material.

Besides legal requirements, the key to enable the widespread use of recycled materials
is the technical performance of the recyclates, including factors such as mechanical
properties, colour, transparency, odour, safety for intended uses and, if applicable,
legal compliance. Printed layers of inks and coatings could potentially impact these
critical aspects, especially when considering impacts of the currently predominant
mechanical recycling of plastic waste.

In order to avoid any potential adverse effects, a good cooperation of the plastic
packaging value chain at all stages is vital. One effective route to improved recyclate
quality is the introduction of an additional step, the removal of the printing ink, prior
to the actual recycling process. This step is called “deinking”.

EUPIA member companies have already developed solutions for deinking of printed
Plastics. They are continuing to work towards even better and more efficient solutions,
together with the recycling industry, to enable the recovery of plastic material and
to achieve circularity for plastic packaging.