Designed to be recycled – What we learn about packaging in Henkel's Recyclab

Building a representative sample

The snippets Robin cuts are meant to represent the packaging as a whole: all components, all layers, in realistic proportions. A detergent package can have up to 30 different parts. "In the end, we have to representatively reduce 200 grams down to our 50 grams," says Robin. That alone is quite a task. Then comes water, just like in a real paper mill. The fibers separate from each other, creating pulp, a kind of paper slurry. What follows are several screening and filtration steps. Coarse impurities get caught. This is repeated several times, filtered finer and finer. Finally, a test sheet of paper is pressed from the prepared fiber pulp.

What counts here: how much fiber remains at all, and how clean the new paper is. Particularly critical are sticky particles – stickies, as they are called in technical jargon. These are polymers that melt at 130 degrees and leave sticky spots in the paper. In a real paper mill, these could cause the paper web to tear. Production comes to a standstill. “Our tests reveal how paper packaging really behaves in recycling. Only then can we improve it,” explains Robin.

Brown paper, big surprise 

Some packaging is surprising. A plain brown paper, barely printed – and yet in the test, nothing dissolves. "You throw it into the pulper, and suddenly nothing defibers," says Robin. In this case, the paper had been so heavily treated that it simply repelled water – a reminder of how important material design is for true recyclability. Sometimes packaging may only look like paper on the outside. But plastic components can be so deeply integrated into the fiber that the material no longer behaves like paper in recycling. "In such cases, the packaging is not recyclable through the paper stream. And not recyclable means, that it is no longer allowed on the market from 2030 on due to the packaging and packaging waste regulation," explains Dr. Nadine Höglsperger, Head of the Recyclab in Düsseldorf. Findings like these help the Recyclab team work with partners and customers to improve packaging design – ensuring that what looks like paper also behaves like paper in the recycling process.

On track for 2030

There is a specific reason why recyclability is under such scrutiny today. From January 1, 2030, packaging sold in Europe must be at least 70 percent recyclable. This is mandated by the PPWR, the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which was adopted in 2024. "We all know: Without clear boundaries, an entire industry won't change," says Nadine. What is still missing are the exact testing methods. Which standard applies? How is it measured? That is still open. "Companies don't know what to orient themselves toward," says the chemist. A vicious cycle: Those who don’t know the rules cannot develop. Nadine therefore sits on committees: 4evergreen, for example, a European alliance of the paper industry, adhesive manufacturers, and brand owners that is developing testing methods for the PPWR. Henkel contributes its laboratory experience. Together, everyone is thinking about how individual measurement points could be made more precise. "If a methodology decides Europe-wide whether a package is allowed on the market, we should set it up as accurately as possible," says the expert.

Two thousand kilometers further east 

The Recyclab exists twice: in Düsseldorf and in Shanghai. Leozezhi Sun, whom everyone calls Leo, works in the lab there. He has over ten years of experience in the adhesive industry, joined Henkel through application technology, and is now the interface between material, process, and customer. The methods are the same as in Düsseldorf: The same screening steps, the same temperatures, the same test sheet at the end. What differs is the context. Many of Henkel's customers in China produce for the European market. "When packaging is exported to Europe, it must be recyclable and comply with the standards there," says Leo. The requirements of the PPWR are thus present daily in Shanghai, via the detour of exports. At the same time, Leo observes a change in China: Since 2021, single-use plastic has been banned in many areas, and more and more packaging is being developed on a paper basis. He, too, is shaped by his profession: He actively tries to avoid single-use plastic and relies on reusable bags when shopping. 

Thirty seconds for twenty pages 

Every test in the lab generates data. Every step must be traceable. Previously, Robin filled out spreadsheets, copied values into report templates, and risked errors. This cost hours every day. Time that did not remain for analysis or exchange. Today, there is an app. Developed from the ground up with Henkel dx, the digital innovation department, not purchased. It guides users through the test process, records measurements directly, and automatically generates the complete test report at the end. "A lab technician copying values for three hours is not efficient," says Nadine. "An app that generates a 20-page report in 30 seconds definitely is".

Research for the future 

The Recyclab is not a closed place. It is open – for brand owners who want to know if their packaging will withstand upcoming requirements. For partners and external institutes that conduct test series and prepare certifications here. What happens in Düsseldorf and Shanghai has long been more than internal research. It is a collective learning process for an industry that must reinvent itself. Nadine and her team are working on something that seems inconspicuous in everyday life. On boxes, coatings, and adhesives. On things that we rip open, fold, and dispose of, mostly without a second thought. But it is precisely this second thought that is systematically played out here. What happens after use? Will the fibers really disintegrate to use them again? Are fibers left over? Does something new emerge from the old? Research into the future happens unnoticed. But it is happening.