Your sample cart is empty
What is energy recovery (and how does it work)?
Not all stand-up pouches can be reused or recycled. In such cases there are different ways to put the waste to good use. One of them is energy recovery, converting residual waste into heat or electricity through controlled incineration in specially equipped plants.
These plants are designed to recover energy efficiently and to limit emissions as much as possible. So it is not the same as simply burning waste. Although the material itself is lost, the process still contributes to the energy supply, for example for electricity generation or district heating.
Within the European waste hierarchy, energy recovery ranks below reuse and recycling, but above landfill. It is often used as a last step when other treatment routes are not technically or practically feasible.
When does a stand-up pouch end up being incinerated for energy recovery?
Multiple layers, mixed materials
Stand-up pouches are typically sent for energy recovery when recycling is not an option. There can be several reasons. In some cases, the pouch consists of multiple layers, such as plastic combined with aluminium or paper. These materials are hard to separate and cannot be recycled as one.
It is also important to realise that recycling cannot be applied 100 percent in every country. Due to limited capacity and infrastructure, many plastics, including stand-up pouches, do not enter the recycling process and are ultimately incinerated.
Contamination
After use, grease, food residues or chemicals can make a pouch unsuitable for recycling. This contamination makes recycling complex and costly, so many pouches are rejected for reprocessing. In addition, many sorting facilities are not yet equipped to process flexible packaging such as stand-up pouches efficiently. Even when pouches are successfully sorted, the contamination often leaves the output too dirty for high-quality recycling.
In such cases, energy recovery is often chosen as an alternative. The packaging material is not completely wasted, but still contributes by producing heat and electricity. This more sustainable option recovers energy from the material.
Chemical substances
Pouches with certain chemical coatings or barrier layers can disrupt the recycling process and reduce the quality of recycled material. These coatings prevent full recyclability by introducing unwanted substances into the material loop. In such situations, controlled incineration with energy recovery offers a more environmentally friendly alternative.
For our pouches, we take recyclability into account through conscious material choices. Our barrier layers, ALOx/EVOH, and functional coatings such as matte or paper-feel varnish always remain below 5% of the total weight. These low percentages help keep our pouches compatible with current recycling systems. For more information about our sustainable material choices, see our pages on recyclability and monomaterials.
What does this mean for your packaging choice?
Energy recovery is not a circular solution, but it can still play a useful role in treating stand-up pouches that are not recyclable. By recovering energy from residual streams, we avoid leaving waste unused or sending it to landfill. At the same time, the material itself is lost, which makes it less sustainable than recycling or reuse.
For companies looking to make their pouches more sustainable, the focus should be on solutions that make recycling possible. Avoid unnecessary combinations of materials, choose monomaterial where it fits, and minimise printing and coatings that complicate processing.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach. What works depends on your product, the level of protection needed, and the options in the chain. Not sure whether your packaging aligns well with waste treatment in practice, feel free to contact us. We are happy to think along with you.
Want to know more or have questions? Contact us - we'll be glad to help!