Aticelca 501:2025
The Aticelca Board of Directors has approved the 2025 version of the Aticelca 501 Recyclability Assessment System.
The new assessment system replaces the previous 2023 edition, which will remain applicable for another 6 months and comes at the end of a long period of public consultation, in which all interested parties were able to participate.
What changes:
1. the possibility of using the Cepi laboratory method instead of UNI 11743:2019 is introduced, thanks to the positive outcome of the comparative study carried out by Aticelca and Comieco;
2. the procedure developed in a research project by Aticelca with 14 international companies is adopted, which allows testing of papers with barrier coatings through the use of dark powders in the measurement of adhesive particles;
3. the procedure developed by Aticelca and GITAC is introduced which allows testing of papers with a thickness greater than 3 mm (cardboard tubes, corners and other high thickness products) by means of pre-wetting;
4. an instrumental value is inserted to determine the optical inhomogeneity in intensely colored papers;
5. the classification of the presence of adhesive particles is remodulated;
6. a premium is recognized for composites that use polyethylene instead of other plastic polymers.
Other criteria that had been proposed, such as the ban on the intentional addition of PFAS and bisphenols, are not included in the laboratory test but become additional criteria to be able to request the concession to use the trademark.
Finally, for the purposes of the concession to use the trademark, a distinction is made between the use of oils and waxes of mineral origin, the intentional addition of which is prohibited, and vegetable oils and waxes, for which a maximum threshold of use is set.
The new Aticelca 501:2025 evaluation system and the new regulation for the use of the “Recyclable with paper – Aticelca 501” brand can be consulted on the Aticelca website, under Paper Recyclability.