As a packaging solution, doypacks offer many advantages: they take up hardly any space when unfilled, reduce transport costs thanks to their low net weight, and effectively protect their contents from UV radiation, spoilage, and loss of flavor. But how do the materials used in Stand-up pouch rate in terms of environmental protection and sustainability? Here we compare the most common doypack variants for you.

In our blog we have compiled even more information on ecology and sustainability in packaging!

Why is recyclability relevant for companies and customers?

Climate change and plastic pollution of our environment unfortunately show it all too clearly: without establishing a resource-saving circular economy, mankind runs the risk of losing its livelihoods in the future. In order to protect the planet, switching to renewable raw materials is just as important as recycling materials that are already in circulation.

This is because recycling - compared to primary production - produces the desired materials in a resource-saving and energy-saving manner. The demand from environmentally conscious customers for recyclable packaging is particularly high, so manufacturers want to satisfy this need.

For companies, however, there is also an economic and legal aspect to the switch to recyclable materials: In the future, the recyclability of packaging and the use of recyclates will have to comply with increasingly strict legal requirements. The first examples are the ban on disposable items such as drinking straws or plastic cups and the mandatory recyclate quota of 25 percent in PET bottles.

Paper vs. film - Who wins in terms of recyclability?

How do the two Doypack variants made of paper and plastic film perform in terms of recyclability?

A) Paper can be recycled well

In this country, schoolchildren are already learning how collected paper waste can be recycled into new paper goods. In principle, the steps involved are easy to explain:

1. Collected waste paper is first grouped by type (for example, brown cardboard, printed paper, etc.) and freed from foreign materials (paper clips, plastic films).
2. The paper is then shredded, soaked in water, and ink residues are removed using alkalis and surfactants.
3. The obtained cellulose pulp can be bleached with oxygen or hydrogen peroxide to obtain high quality white paper.
4. New sheets of paper are rolled out on webs from the recovered bleached cellulose fibers.

However, this process cannot be repeated an infinite number of times, as the cellulose fibers dissolved from recovered paper become too short after five to seven recycling cycles to produce resilient paper from them. To prevent the result from becoming too brittle, a proportion of virgin fiber paper must be added to the multiply recycled fibers.

How environmentally friendly is recycled paper?

Compared to virgin fiber paper, the recycled variant performs significantly better: Here, up to 70 percent less water is used in production, 60 percent energy is saved and significantly fewer chemicals are discharged into wastewater. In addition, no trees have to be felled for recycled paper.

What are the recycling rates in Germany?

Currently, the recycling rate for paper goods is 71.4 percent; in 2030, manufacturers want to achieve 76 percent. This means that the recycling rate has increased significantly since 1990 (49 percent).

The problem: despite the rising recycling rate, electricity consumption by the European paper industry has increased since 1990 from 86,500 GWh to 89,700 GWh. The reason: demand for paper products also increased in parallel, with the packaging industry accounting for a share of 55 percent.

B) Single-grade plastics can be recycled well

When experts talk about plastics recycling, they are referring to three different processes:

1. In mechanical recycling, single-variety plastics are shredded mechanically or by means of solvents in such a way that their polymers remain intact. High-quality recyclates can be obtained here, which can be reprocessed into similar products.
2. In feedstock recycling, the polymers are broken down and the monomers are used as a base material for other materials or as auxiliary materials for production processes. This recycling process requires a lot of energy.
3. In energy recovery, plastic is incinerated for the purpose of generating energy.

For a resource-conserving recycling economy, only the mechanical recycling of plastics comes into question. However, the current recycling rates here are only just under 50 percent. What is the problem?

High-quality recycling requires unmixed and unmixed plastic waste, which not every player in the circular economy can supply. For example, while 94 percent of waste from the plastics processing industry goes into mechanical recycling, only 33 percent comes out of the end consumer's yellow bag.

Monomaterial vs. composite material - recycling capabilities

Here, the experts' verdict is clear: energy-efficient recycling that yields high-quality recyclates is best achieved with mono-materials. This applies both to pure paper packaging and to plastic films made of mono-plastic, for example PE.

As soon as paper packaging is coated with plastic for a barrier function or films made of different types of plastic are combined, this significantly damages recyclability .

What does this mean for ecologically favorable Doypacks?

Stand-up pouch made of pure paper can only be used for a limited range of goods. In the food sector, for example, they are suitable for dried fruit, freeze-dried fruit or sugar. The disadvantages of the paper version become apparent with moister foods or those that require a barrier layer for aroma protection, such as coffee, tea and spices.

In such cases, manufacturers should opt for film pouches rather than paper-plastic composites in the interests of recyclability. Here, the consistent switch from composite films to packaging made of mono-PE could achieve a 15 percent reduction in the CO2 footprint of plastic packaging, according to experts.

Is it more difficult to recycle barrier films?

To effectively shield the bag contents from the effects of oxygen, many Doypack manufacturers use a material combination of PE and EVOH. EVOH (ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer) is incorporated here as an effective barrier layer between two PE layers.

The combination has no negative effect on the recycling of the packaging, provided the EVOH content is below 5 percent. Otherwise, recyclates with stains, turbidity and bubbles that break open are obtained.

Recyclability of the zipper, the viewing window and the print

Whether a doypack can be recycled is determined not only by the material of the bottom and sides, but also by the extras such as the viewing window, zipper and printing.

In the case of the transparent window, the main problem is that of composite packaging: When a transparent PET window is incorporated into a kraft paper doypack, it prevents its smooth reuse as a source of recovered paper.

Alternatively, kraft paper doypacks with a viewing window made of compostable plastic are offered, but these can only be composted industrially as a whole. In the case of film bags, it again depends on the material: Doypacks with a window made of a PE/PET material combination are more difficult to recycle than window bags made of recyclable monoplastic.

The same applies to the zipper: a paper Doypack becomes a composite pack by means of plastic zippers. For film pouches, the zipper should ideally be made of the same mono-material as the doypack to ensure its good recyclability.

Do printing inks influence the recyclability of Doypacks?

Doypacks are also popular with producers and retailers because they can be printed all over. Does this harm their recyclability? The answer is: not if the right inks are used.

As far as recovered paper recycling is concerned, there are colors, for example, that can be removed better or worse in the deinking process. Here, the waste paper pulp is mixed with water, lye and surfactants and foamed to separate the dissolved colors in the foam.

In plastics recycling, too, various pigments behave favorably or unfavorably - but according to experts, high-quality recyclates comparable to virgin materials can be achieved with various standard organic and inorganic pigments used in flexographic and gravure printing. Developments in the ink sector are currently focused on allowing inks to take on functions on packaging, for example as barrier coatings on paper packaging.

  

	Doypack paper / foil	Paper doypack	Foil Doypack
Suitable for	Aromatic foods such as cocoa, tea, coffee, spices.	Dry goods such as flour, powder, dried fruits, freeze-dried fruits.	Aromatic foods and moist goods such as soups, purees, soaps, etc.
Not suitable for		Moist and aromatic goods.
Resource consumption of the material	Fresh fiber paper requires energy and water in production: conventional plastics are based on petroleum products.	Fresh fiber paper requires energy and water in production.	Conventional plastics are based on petroleum products.
Recyclability	Composite materials are more difficult to recycle.	Good recyclability.	Good recyclability for mono films; composite materials are less recyclable.

Can doypacks be made from recyclate?

Since the invention of the Doypack in 1963, 25 billion of the practical Stand-up pouch are said to have come into circulation - if a large proportion of these were made from recycled material, this would make a significant contribution to the resource-saving circular economy. But can this work technically?

Doypacks made of kraft paper consume wood as a raw material

Kraft paper is the most resilient type of paper on the market. It is used for Doypacks to ensure the stability and tear resistance of the packaging.

The problem: Kraft paper requires particularly long cellulose fibers, which are only found in the production of virgin fiber paper from wood. Waste paper provides fibers that are too short and brittle for this purpose. In terms of sustainability, the option here is to rely on FSC-certified products.

This seal indicates that the wood for paper production comes from sustainable forestry. If the entire product is FSC-certified, the production processes also meet sustainable criteria.

For plastics, it depends on the quality of the recyclate

Pure PE plastics in particular produce high-quality recyclates. Regenerated films can be produced here that almost match the properties of the original materials - with minor restrictions such as cloudiness, small inclusions or a slight odor.

The problem with food packaging: Here, the recyclates as well as the recycling processes must go through an approval process. Currently, only chemically recycled materials (not those from mechanical recycling) can be used for food. In addition, recycled films can no longer be used at low thicknesses below 30 my.

Currently, Doypacks cannot yet be disposed of in organic waste. Bio-plastics are made from plant material. Their sustainability factor lies in the avoidance of petroleum and the use of renewable raw material sources.

Conclusion: Ecologically valuable? It all depends on the detail!

With Doypacks in particular, it is not possible to make a simple judgment about the most sustainable solution. After all, waste paper cannot be used and the necessary kraft paper consumes a relatively large amount of water and energy in its production.

An alternative is FSC-certified paper or PE plastic, which can actually be produced with less resource consumption than paper and cardboard.

For this, PE consists of petroleum waste products, which are finite. The key here is to produce doypacks that can be recycled to a high standard, whereby all details (barrier layer, zipper, color printing) must also be designed to be recyclable.

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