GreenBlue, a nonprofit organization that equips businesses with the science and resources to make products more sustainable, has released a suite of reports that provide technical guidance on designing packaging to be compatible with common recovery methods.

Design for Recovery Guidelines for Aluminum, Steel, Glass, and Paper Packaging detail common recovery challenges and barriers for these four major packaging materials, as well as providing practical instructions on how attachments, inks, coatings, and colorants affect recyclability and compostability.

The guidelines are the result of GreenBlue’s Closing the Loop research project—funded through a grant awarded to GreenBlue by the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery with additional support from the Sustainable Packaging Coalition—which promotes more effective material recovery systems by connecting packaging designers with available recovery options.

The guidelines were inspired by the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers Design for Recyclability Guidelines, which outline which plastic bottles are compatible with today’s recycling technologies. GreenBlue initiated this project to provide similar guidance for all packaging material types.