Cardboard, foil, or residual waste? How to properly separate your packaging
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
Can tape go with old paper and where does a bubble envelope belong? The rules for packaging waste in a row, including advice from Milieu Centraal.
After a week of ordering, most people have it in their hallway: a pile of flattened boxes, a few bubble envelopes, and a wad of tape that doesn't belong anywhere. You know the boxes go with the old paper. But what about that gray envelope with bubble wrap inside? And does the tape need to be removed first?
It's a small decision you make a few times a week, and it goes wrong more often than you think. Incorrectly separated paper costs processors money and reduces fiber quality. For webshops, there's another factor: the material you choose determines how easily your customer can separate it later. Below are the rules, with their sources.
The basic rule: clean and dry
Milieu Centraal (Dutch organization for environmental information) keeps it simple: only clean and dry paper and cardboard can be processed properly. Wet cardboard from the rain, or cardboard with grease stains, disrupts the process. Grease penetrates the fiber, making it unusable. A truly dirty pizza box, therefore, belongs with residual waste; a box with a small grease spot can go with the old paper.
Practically, this means: store your cardboard indoors, not next to the bin in the rain. And cut or tear large boxes into pieces before discarding them, so they don't block the opening of the paper bin. A box that you neatly open along the fold lines should then be flattened rather than torn apart — this saves space in the bin and keeps the box usable if you want to use it again.
Cardboard can be disposed of with tape
This is the most frequently asked question, and the answer is reassuring: the tape does not need to be removed. Small amounts of tape, staples, and paperclips are removed during processing. So you don't need to use a knife along every seam to make your box "recycling-ready."
This also applies to envelopes with a plastic window. A single plastic window can simply go with the old paper; it will be filtered out at the factory. Where it does go wrong: double-laminated paper — paper with a plastic layer on both sides. That cannot be recycled and belongs with residual waste.
For a webshop, this is an argument for keeping it simple. A recycled letterbox box in A6 format (bundle of 100, € 17.95) or the A5+ variant (€ 24.00) consists of a single material. Sealing it with regular packaging tape of 50 meters x 48 mm (€ 3.00) changes nothing: the customer can simply throw the entire box with the old paper.
The bubble envelope is the tricky case
A paper envelope with plastic bubble wrap on the inside is a mixed packaging. The Afvalscheidingswijzer (Waste Separation Guide) from Milieu Centraal is clear about it: it belongs with residual waste. Only if you can tear the plastic and paper apart can the plastic go to the separate collection of plastic packaging waste and the paper to the old paper. If you can't do that neatly, the entire envelope goes to residual waste.
The rule provided by the guide is useful for all doubtful cases: when in doubt, choose residual waste. This may sound unsatisfying, but one incorrect piece of mixed material in the paper bin does more damage than one piece of cardboard in the residual waste.
A completely plastic bubble envelope is a different story: it's made of a single material and can go with plastic packaging waste. Our metallic bubble envelopes of 22 x 17 cm (€ 0.90) and the 33 x 23 cm size (€ 0.80) are made of foil. For the recipient, this is simpler than a paper-plastic combination.
Where does what belong? An overview
Material
Where it belongs
Note
Cardboard box, clean and dry
Old paper
Tape can remain on it
Box with grease stains
Residual waste
Small spot may go with paper
Envelope with plastic window
Old paper
Single window is not a problem
Double-laminated paper
Residual waste
Not recyclable
Paper envelope with bubble wrap
Residual waste
Unless you tear them apart
Bubble wrap, plastic bubble envelope
Plastic packaging waste
Single material, so easy
Roll of tape, loose tape
Residual waste
Cardboard core can go with paper
What you as a sender can choose
You have more influence than you think. Three choices that make it simpler for the recipient:
Choose one material per packaging. A cardboard box with cardboard filling is disposed of in one go. A cardboard box with foam filling and foil tape is not.
Do not use more than necessary. A cardboard shipping box of 15 x 15 x 15 cm (€ 1.99) that fits precisely requires less filling than an oversized box. This saves material, weight, and waste.
Add instructions. One sentence on the packing slip — "box with old paper, foil with plastic" — costs nothing and prevents a wrong choice.
When moving or decluttering, the same applies. A moving box of 480 x 430 x 330 mm (€ 3.50) will last several rounds before ending up with the old paper; that's environmental gain you'll never achieve by merely separating. The same goes for bubble wrap on a roll (500 mm x 500 m, € 12.95): film you use two or three times is better than film you use once and separate neatly.
Two misconceptions
Firstly: recycled cardboard is not weaker because it is recycled. Its strength lies in the corrugated structure and grammage, not in the origin of the fiber. Secondly: paper cannot be recycled indefinitely. The fiber shortens with each round, so new fiber must be added. This does not make separation any less meaningful – it merely means that using less material is still paramount.
If you want to know the exact details for a specific product, the Afvalscheidingswijzer (Waste Separation Guide) from Milieu Centraal is full of individual cases — from till receipts to gift wrap. Municipalities can also differ in what they collect; if in doubt, your own municipality's website is the authoritative source.
Get started
If you want to set up your shipping area so that separation goes smoothly, check out Packaging & Shipping for boxes and void fill, Letterbox Packaging for recycled letterbox boxes, and Tape for rolls and dispensers – the bundle of 6 rolls 48 x 66 mm costs € 21.00. If you are unsure which material suits what you are sending, or if you want advice on an assortment that your customers can easily separate, feel free to email info@verpakkingdeals.nl – we are happy to help.
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