If you have had the pleasure of shopping for recycled CD/DVD sleeve or other eco-friendly disc package, you may have heard ‘recycled board’, ‘FSC certified paper’ or ‘recycled board with 10% PCW’,  are they just different way of saying the same thing? In this last part of our series about recycled packaging, we’ll navigate through the complex world of recycled cardboard CD/DVD packaging.

Recycled vs recyclable

Remember in Part 1 of this series we talked about recycled printing terms? Many manufacturers will say their disc packaging is made from “recycled” paper. It is somewhat incomplete and mis-leading because it does not say how much recycled and virgin paper it contains. Even if the paper only has 10% recycled content, it can still be called “recycled paper”. The exact composition can mostly be found in the fine print.

When a cardboard packaging is labeled as “recyclable”, it simply means it can be recycled, it can contain any combination of virgin and recycled content, or no recycled content at all.

Post-consumer waste vs Pre-consumer waste

You may have found out from the fine print that the cardboard contains some recycled content, the follow-up question should be: is it post-consumer waste or pre-consumer waste? It makes a big difference in terms of costs and environmental impact. Revisit our recycled print terms glossary to refresh your memory on what they mean.

Post-consumer waste is the best type recycled content to use, it is the essence of recycling. It has gone through the hands of the consumer, and it has been “re-born” into something new.  Processing post-consumer waste is more complex and therefore it does have a higher cost than pre-consumer waste.

Is recycled cardboard cheaper?

Contrary to popular beliefs, recycled cardboard for CD/DVD disc packaging does cost more, simply because recycled paper manufacturing involves extra steps such as collecting consumer waste, recovering fiber, making and cleaning the pulp. The higher the post-consumer recycled content is, the higher the cost. Keep in mind though most papers and cardboard now do have a at least 10% post-consumer waste content. So find out from your print provider and you can balance between your budget and goal.

What is recycled digi-tray?

One of the latest innovations in cardboard packaging is now the use of recycled materials to make the digi-tray. It is the plastic tray element that holds the disc in a discpak. Examples include potato tray, recycled bottle tray, and the paper foam tray. If you have read recycled CD/DVD case, you know that recycled plastic is not as strong and sturdy as virgin plastic. Unfortunately that is the case with the non-standard digi-tray as well. If being eco-friendly is important to you, go with a package without a tray.

Is FSC-certified paper recycled?

The Forest Stewardship Council sets forth principles, criteria, and standards that span economic, social, and environmental concerns of the process of paper production. That being said, it doesn’t mean the paper contains any recycled content.

There is an on-going debate about whether it is better to use FSC-certified paper or recycled paper containing post-consumer waste, what do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!