Definitions and disclaimers
Materials generated by consumer, business or institutional sources that have served their intended use or completed their lifecycle and would be destined for disposal had they not been diverted from the waste stream for reuse or recycling.
A complete chain of custody review has not been completed. Anyone purchasing the material/product should conduct their own chain-of-custody review.
Materials and by-products from manufacturing processes that would be destined for disposal had they not been diverted from the waste stream for reuse or recycling. However, pre-consumer material does not include materials and by-products generated by and commonly reused in an original.
A complete chain of custody review has not been completed. Anyone purchasing the material/product should conduct their own chain-of-custody review.
Indicates a material or converted package that has been source reduced compared to a current commercial package, either from this company or another, that represents the state of the art for a given package or product type for which this package is suitable.
Refers to the reduction in greenhouse gases achieved in the PRODUCTION of this material or package.
Green checkmark, if present, indicates that lab test results were provided to Greener Package. Tests were not performed by Greener Package to ensure the validity of the claim. You must determine if the specific compliance guarantee is suitable for your end use application. Backup documentation is available to prove that this material meets the CONEG heavy metals standards and no heavy metals have been intentionally added.
A reduction in shipping was achieved in transportation of this material/product due to a reduction in shipping volume per case, reduction in weight, or reduction in shipping distance. This must be a comparison to a current commercial package, either from your company or another, that represents the state of the art for a given package or product type for which your package is suitable.
This material or package is reusable/returnable/refillable for the same purpose as originally designated.
While a material may be recyclable, you must determine if the material, as used in your end use application, will still be recyclable. In other words, adding some finishing options, such as certain inks or special effects may render this material or package no longer recyclable in many communities. In the context of this database, recyclability specifically refers to how widely this package or material is accepted for recycling, not whether it's technically recyclable, regardless of whether facilities exist.
There are a very limited number of municipal and institutional composting facilities in the U.S. While a material may be compostable, you must determine if the material, as used in your end-use application, will be compostable. The material or package complies with one or more of these three internationally recognized standards for compostability in industrial composting facilities: ASTM D6400, ASTM D6868-03, or CEN EN13432.
This material or package has an energy value of greater than 5 megajoules per kilogram, thus meeting EU standard EN 13431 standard for waste-to-energy.
It is expected that the FTC will provide guidance on what constitutes a renewable resource in the next version of the Environmental Marketing Claims guidelines, which is projected to come out in sometime this year. Once they have provided guidance, this claim will be added to this database and the third-party review process.