End-of-life Solutions for Fibre and Bio-based Packaging Materials in Europe By Günter Müller, 1 * Elisabeth Hanecker, 1 Kai Blasius, 2 Constanze Seidemann, 2 Lydia Tempel, 2 Patrizia Sadocco, 3 Beatriz Ferreira Pozo, 4 Georgios Boulougouris, 4 Branka Lozo, 5 Sonja Jamnicki 5 and Elena Bobu 6 1 Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS), Hess-Straße 134, 80797 Munich, Germany 2 Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS), Pirnaer Straße 37, 01809 Heidenau, Germany 3 Stazione Sperimentale Carta, Cartonnei e Paste per Carta (SSCCP), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 16, 20133 Milano, Italy 4 Instituto Tecnológico del Embalaje Transporte y Logística (ITENE), C/Albert Einstein 1, 46980 Paterna, Spain 5 Faculty of Graphic Arts, University of Zagreb, Getaldićeva 2, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia 6 Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, Department of Natural and Synthetic Polymers, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, 71 Mangeron Blvd, 700050 Iasi, Romania Efficient end-of-life solutions play an important role in developing sustainable packaging because they contrib- ute to reducing resource wastage and environmental impact, whilst providing economic and social benefits. This paper briefly reviews current end-of-life solutions for fibre and bio-based materials for packaging in Europe. It also addresses current research in the field, as well as standardization, legislation and socio-economic aspects related to renewable packaging in Europe. This review focuses on the following groups of packaging materials: paper and board and bioplastics. With this hierarchy, recycling, organic recovery and energy recovery are analysed with regard to the processes and technologies that offer the most sustainable end-of-life options. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 26 January 2012; Revised 1 October 2012; Accepted 8 October 2012 KEY WORDS: bioplastics; composting; end-of-life; fibre; incineration; paper; packaging; recovery; recycling INTRODUCTION A recent survey reveals that 9 of 10 European consumers prefer paper-based packaging, 1 thus making it the most commonly used packaging material in the world. 2 In Europe, the basic raw materials for paper and board manufacture are fibre pulps obtained from renewable resources. They are recyclable, biodegradable and combustible. All these features impart an environmental advantage to paper-based packaging compared with other packaging materials because of the presence of the most beneficial end-of-life options: recycling, organic recovery and, last but not the least, energy recovery. In Europe, packaging paper is produced from mixtures of virgin and recycled fibres, in which the proportion of recycled fibres varies from 0% to 100% as a function of the packaging paper grade. The utilization rate of recovered paper (RP) in a sector is described as a percentage of the total paper production in that sector. In 2010, the utilization rate of RP amounted to 75.3% in the production of packaging paper. 3 * Correspondence to: Günter Müller, Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS), Hess-Strabe 134, 80797 Munich, Germany. E-mail: Guenter.Mueller@ptspaper.de PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE Packag. Technol. Sci. 2014; 27:1–15 Published online 9 November 2012 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pts.2006 Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.