Recycled, FSC, or compostable? How to interpret claims on packaging materials
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
7 min reading time
“Sustainable” on a box is not a claim, but a word. What recycled, FSC and compostable *do* mean — and what you are allowed to say about them on your own webshop.
Pick ten random shipping boxes from ten suppliers, and at least half of them will feature the word "sustainable," "eco," or "green." None of these boxes specify what that precisely means. This is no coincidence: these words are not protected. Anyone can put them on a box without any corresponding verification.
What does mean something is a verifiable claim: a percentage of recycled material, a certification number, a standardized logo. For those purchasing packaging materials for a webshop or store, the distinction is practically relevant — your customer can hold you accountable, and the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) expects in its Guidelines on Sustainability Claims that you can substantiate sustainability claims and that vague claims are avoided. Below is what the three most common claims mean and how to verify them.
Recycled cardboard: the most concrete story
"Recycled" means that the fibers come from collected waste paper and cardboard instead of new wood fibers. It's the claim that allows the least ambiguity: it says something about the raw material, not about an intention.
Practically, you can tell by the box. Recycled cardboard is usually brown or grayish and has a slightly less even interior than bleached white cardboard. This is not a quality issue — for letterbox packages, where stiffness and thickness are key, it makes little difference.
If you want to substantiate the claim to your customer, ask your supplier for the percentage of recycled material. "Made from recycled cardboard" and "contains 80% recycled material" are two different statements, and the second one can be substantiated.
FSC: three labels that don't say the same thing
The FSC label is not about recycling but about the origin of the wood. There are three variants you might encounter on a product, and according to the Forest Stewardship Council itself, they mean the following:
Label
What it means
FSC 100%
All materials used come from FSC-certified forests.
FSC Recycled
The product is made from 100% recycled material.
FSC Mix
A mixture of material from FSC-certified forests, recycled material, and/or FSC Controlled Wood.
Two things are important here. Firstly, FSC Mix is the label you often encounter in practice on packaging cardboard — it's a valid label, but it's not the same as FSC 100%. Secondly, every valid FSC label comes with a license code, recognizable by the format FSC-C followed by numbers. If it's not there, the use of the brand is incorrect. Such a code can be looked up in FSC's public registry.
Important for your own communication: you are not allowed to simply put the FSC logo on your website or your own packaging just because you purchase certified boxes. Separate rules apply to using the label. What you can say is that you purchase certified boxes — with a reference to the supplier.
Compostable: especially note the waste bin
"Compostable" usually refers to film, bags, or void fill. The recognizable logo is the seedling logo; there is also OK compost. The misunderstanding is not in the logo, but in what your customer does with it afterwards.
Milieu Centraal is clear about this: compostable plastic only degrades under specific conditions — for a longer period in a fermentation or composting machine, with sufficient temperature and humidity. Therefore, compostable packaging belongs in residual waste and not in organic waste or PMD. The exception is organic waste bags with one of these logos; these can go in the green bin.
The consequence for your webshop: a compostable shipping bag is not automatically a better choice than a regular one, and if you use it, indicate how your customer should dispose of it. Otherwise, it ends up in the organic waste bin, and the claim works against you.
Film, tape, and envelopes: the honest consideration
The plastic in your packaging is usually in three things: void fill film, tape, and bubble envelopes. There's little to certify there, but there are choices to be made.
Bubble envelopes are a mixed packaging of paper and plastic, making them harder to separate than a cardboard box. Metallic Bubble Envelopes 22x17 cm start from € 0.90 each. If your product fits flat in a cardboard letterbox box, that's the simpler route.
For your own product pages and shipping confirmations, a simple test applies: can you substantiate every sentence with a document from your supplier? If not, leave it out.
Be specific. "Our letterbox boxes are made from recycled cardboard" is verifiable. "We package sustainably" is not.
Claim no more than the component. If your box is recycled but your tape is not, write about the box.
No logos without rights. Do not copy a quality mark logo from your supplier's site.
Tell the customer what to do. For compostable material: state that it belongs in residual waste. For cardboard: that it can go with old paper, provided you don't leave tape on it.
Keep your proof. An email from your supplier with percentages and certificate numbers is sufficient, provided you can retrieve it.
How to check a supplier in ten minutes
Ask for three things before placing a large order: the percentage of recycled material, the certificate number if a quality mark is mentioned, and the flute type or grammage of the cardboard. If you get a concrete answer to all three, you can substantiate your claim. If you only get marketing language back, you know enough.
The full range is available in Packaging & Shipping. Letterbox formats can be found in Letterbox Packaging, larger sizes in Boxes, and related materials in Tape, Envelopes and Protection & Void Fill Material. Do you want to know exactly what is known about the composition of a specific item before writing about it on your own site? Email your question to info@verpakkingdeals.nl — we will inquire with the manufacturer and send you what is stated in black and white.
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