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Our Definitions
Understand packaging terms through their meaning, an everyday example and the decision each term helps you make.
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The first distinction is simple: origin, previous use and next disposal are different questions. A package can do well on one and poorly on another.
- Origin, recovered inputs and disposal are separate questions.
- Use the glossary examples to interpret a brief.
- Prioritize changes that affect real material use and recovery.
On this page
Four words that describe four different thingsFind a term, then connect it to an examplePrioritize the properties that change the whole systemClear wording helps readers make the right next move01 / 04
Four words that describe four different things
Renewable tells you whether the source can replenish. Recycled tells you whether recovered material went into the item. Recyclable tells you about a recovery route after use. Compostable tells you about biological treatment under defined conditions. None can replace the other three.
Think of a carton made with fresh wood fiber and a bag made with recovered fossil-derived PE. The carton can have a renewable source without recycled inputs. The bag can have recycled inputs without a renewable source. Their next destinations require a separate assessment.
| Question | Useful word | Illustrative example |
|---|---|---|
| What was the starting resource? | Renewable / fossil-derived | Cotton crop / petroleum |
| Was the material recovered before manufacture? | Recycled / virgin | Used carton fiber / newly harvested fiber |
| Can it enter a working recovery route? | Recyclable | An accepted paper carton |
| Can it meet defined composting conditions? | Compostable | A verified construction accepted by a composter |
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Find a term, then connect it to an example
Search the glossary for a material, process or claim. Each entry gives its meaning and a practical example. The examples illustrate the vocabulary; they are not composition or performance claims about a particular Stowliva product.
Biobased
Made partly or wholly from biological feedstock. This describes origin; it does not prove compostability or recyclability. Ask for the measured fraction and the component covered.
Example: A sugarcane-derived PE film changes the source of the carbon; it does not become a compostable film.
Biodegradable
Capable of biological breakdown under specified conditions. The environment and time frame matter. Fragmenting or dissolving is not automatically the same outcome.
Example: A claim about breakdown in a warm treatment process cannot be extended to a cold sea.
Bill of materials (BOM)
A component-level record of materials, weights and construction. Include substrate, liners, windows, closures, adhesive and print rather than listing only the largest component.
Example: A jewelry pack might list a 120 g carton, 10 g tissue, 25 g pouch and 3 g card as separate components.
Carbon footprint
An estimate of greenhouse-gas emissions within a defined boundary. Comparisons need the same packaging function, an identified method and transparent assumptions.
Example: A figure per kilogram of resin cannot be printed as the footprint of an entire parcel.
Chain of custody
A system for tracking specified material claims through relevant supply-chain stages. Check the certificate holder, product scope and required transaction documentation.
Example: An eligible paper claim is tracked through relevant material and converting stages.
Circularity
Keeping products and materials useful through prevention, reuse and recovery. A recycling symbol alone does not demonstrate a circular system.
Example: Recovered paper bought by a mill and made into another useful sheet continues a material loop.
Commercially compostable
Assessed for defined commercial composting conditions. Confirm the finished construction and receiving facility; it is not a home-compost instruction.
Example: A certified food-service item still needs a collection service and a facility that accepts it.
Dieline
The production drawing showing cut, crease, fold and glue areas. Use the approved, full-size version and keep print artwork on separate layers where requested.
Example: A crease line shows where a carton folds; it is not part of the printed logo.
Downcycling
Recovery into an application with different or lower material value or performance. It can be useful, but should be distinguished from returning material to an equivalent function.
Example: Film made into composite decking is a different material destination from film made into new bags.
Extended producer responsibility (EPR)
Policy assigning producers responsibilities for products or packaging after use. Obligations, producer definitions and reporting rules depend on the jurisdiction.
Example: An obligated brand reports covered packaging supplied into a state and funds the relevant program.
Feedstock
The starting input used to make a material. It may be fossil-derived, biological or recovered from an earlier use. Name it before evaluating a broad environmental claim.
Example: A bag’s starting input might be petroleum, crop-derived carbon or recovered PE.
Home compostable
Assessed under an applicable home-compost scheme. Home and commercial environments differ; use the evidence and instructions for the exact product.
Example: A garden-compost claim needs evidence for those conditions, not only industrial testing.
Life-cycle assessment (LCA)
A structured assessment of environmental impacts across stated life-cycle stages. Functional unit, boundary, data and assumptions determine how a result can be used.
Example: Compare two systems delivering the same number of undamaged products, with the same stated boundary.
Material recovery facility (MRF)
A facility that sorts collected materials into streams for further recovery. Package size, shape and additions can influence how it is handled.
Example: A sorter separates mixed collected paper, cans and containers into marketable streams.
Mono-material
A structure designed mainly around one material family. Check barriers, seals and closures; the term does not prove collection access or recovery compatibility.
Example: A mainly PE pouch still needs its zipper, barrier and label evaluated with the film.
Post-consumer recycled (PCR)
Recovered material from products that completed their intended use. Ask for the percentage by weight and the component to which it applies.
Example: Fiber from a used shipping carton has completed its intended use before recovery.
Pre-consumer recycled
Recovered manufacturing material diverted from a waste stream. Applicable definitions distinguish qualifying recovery from routine reuse within the same process.
Example: Qualifying recovered factory offcuts have a different history from used consumer cartons.
Recycled content
The recovered-input share of a specified product or component. It is separate from whether the item can be recycled after its next use.
Example: A 100 g component containing 80 g recovered material has an 80% recovered share by weight.
Recyclable
Able to enter an effective collection, sorting and reprocessing route under the relevant conditions. Technical material compatibility is only part of the assessment.
Example: A collected paper carton and a separately collected film bag have different instructions.
Regenerative sourcing
An approach aiming to improve ecological conditions through production. Identify the practice, location and measured outcome; the word is not a universal certification.
Example: An improvement in soil health needs a location, baseline and measured change.
Renewable resource
A resource replenished through natural growth on a human-relevant time scale when managed within its renewal capacity. Wood, cotton and seaweed differ from geological fossil inputs.
Example: Cotton can regrow in a crop cycle; fossil petroleum cannot replenish at that pace.
Reusable
Designed to perform useful repeated cycles. Durability, cleaning, return logistics and actual customer use determine whether the opportunity is realized.
Example: A pouch used for storage ten times has a different outcome from one discarded after opening.
Source reduction
Preventing material use through measures such as elimination, right-sizing or reuse. Adding recycled content does not itself reduce the mass of packaging used.
Example: Removing an 8 g unnecessary insert prevents 8 g of material use per otherwise equivalent pack.
Substrate
The surface being printed or converted, such as paper, board, textile or film. Its color, texture and absorbency influence the finished print.
Example: The same translucent black ink looks different on white card and brown kraft.
Water-based ink
Ink whose carrier system uses water. Pigments, binders and additives still need review; water-based does not mean the entire formulation is natural.
Example: Water describes the carrier system; the black pigment may still have a fossil origin.
Virgin material
Newly produced material from freshly extracted or harvested feedstock. It can be fossil-derived or biological, so virgin and nonrenewable are not synonyms.
Example: Fresh wood fiber is virgin and biological; new petroleum resin is virgin and fossil-derived.
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Prioritize the properties that change the whole system
Some changes affect the main material or its useful next life: eliminating an unnecessary layer, increasing verified recovered inputs, enabling recovery or making repeated use happen. Other changes affect a narrower detail, such as an ink carrier or decorative finish. Both can matter, but they do not have the same reach.
A water-based ink on a heavily laminated composite does not make the whole pack easy to recycle. A natural-looking pouch discarded immediately does not realize a reuse opportunity. Read a claim at the level of the component it actually describes, then consider how much of the overall system it changes.
Turn a vague brief into an understandable one
Instead of ‘a sustainable gift pack,’ describe a reusable storage pouch, a delivery carton with a documented recovered-fiber share, and a removable information card. This identifies the jobs and the attributes separately.
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Clear wording helps readers make the right next move
A useful pack tells the customer what a piece is and what to do with it. ‘Remove the textile pouch for reuse’ and a verified disposal instruction for the outer carton answer different needs. Broad wording such as earth-friendly does neither.
The material guides explain the processes behind these terms. The certification guide explains evidence. The artwork guide explains how to make the final instruction readable on the actual pack.
Official and first-party resources · reviewed October 7, 2026
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