Technical Protocol
Pulp processing plants and paper mills apply the cepi recyclability test method v2 to measure how well specific fibre products break down during standard aqueous repulping. This laboratory procedure establishes a uniform baseline for assessing whether paper based packaging materials disperse into constituent fibres within a defined timeframe. The document outlines the specific hardware configurations, mixing speeds and screen sizes required to simulate industrial recycling systems.
It provides the analytical framework to quantify the reject fraction remaining after the process completes. The method applies to all paper and cardboard substrates where recyclability status relies on successful disintegration into slush pulp suitable for high volume secondary fibre production lines.
Quantitative Mechanism
Chemical additives and physical coatings determine the behaviour of substrates during this standardized hydrapulping sequence. The cepi recyclability test method v2 forces material samples into a closed vessel containing water and mechanical agitation for a duration that mimics typical secondary fibre processing. Fibres that pass through the specific mill screen move into the accepted fraction, while non-fibrous components or materials that fail to disintegrate become the rejects.
Technicians calculate the mass balance by comparing the dry weight of the initial input with the dry weight of the rejected residues collected at the final stage. Coatings that resist water penetration or adhesives that maintain high wet strength often increase the reject percentage. This measurement establishes the technical feasibility for processing materials through existing paper mill infrastructure rather than relying on hypothetical recovery scenarios or ambiguous material design assumptions.
Operational Boundary
Compliance with the cepi recyclability test method v2 remains restricted to fibrous substrates and does not extend to non-paper components that enter the waste stream as contaminants. This standard defines the interface between packaging design and mill capability by limiting the percentage of non-dispersible material allowed for a product to achieve a recycling pass. Paper mills verify the effectiveness of these measurements by observing the presence of stickies or visible ink specks during the formation of new sheets from the recovered material.
Accurate testing ensures that converters produce items compatible with the infrastructure present in regional paper mills. The final result represents the physical capability of a material to integrate into a standard recycling loop without forcing additional chemical treatments or mechanical adjustments upon the facility.
