What are the different types of paper grades?

Identifying which category your paper or board needs to be placed into before trading it for the production of new products can be tricky. Especially when countries, regions, or even individual paper mills have different regulations for what can and cannot be mixed or processed. 

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So let us give you a simple explanation on how paper materials are categorised for the purpose of recycling using the EN643 European list of standard grades of paper and board as a guideline. 

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Why are paper grades categorised?

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When selling or purchasing recycled paper and board, the materials are categorised into groups based on the type of paper product, what elements it obtains, such as, glue, ink, or dye, and how much percentage of unwanted materials it has (see our blog Why not all paper can be recycled). 

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These qualities determine which groups, according to the EN643 European list of standard grades of paper and board for recycling, the paper and board materials are placed into.  

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The five groups are known as: ordinary, medium, high, kraft, and special grades. 

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It is important to note, however, that the grades listed in the EN643 may not always be accepted by some buyers such as paper mills due to having their own regulations. Therefore, always check first with your trading partner on what they will accept. 

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How are paper grades categorised?

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Ordinary, Medium , and High Paper Grades

With each grade group are paper products that have a specific amount of non-paper components or unwanted materials. Meaning, grades such as Ordinary have the smallest amount of non-paper or unwanted components, while High has, well, you can probably guess, more complex paper types which are contaminated with either more delicate or harsher elements. For example, UV-ink or biological waste.

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Kraft and Special Grades

Paper and board materials that are made out of kraft will be placed into the Kraft grade. For instance, one type outlined by the EN643 is grade 4.08.00, described as ‘New carrier kraft. May be wet strength and/or non wet-strength and may be printer or unprinted’, with a max of 0.5% of non-paper components and a max of 1% unwanted-material. It essentially depends on what else these materials are coated or contaminated with. 

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Special grades in the waste paper industry refer to paper or board materials that are usually not sorted in bulk, this is due to these types typically being used on the inside of other materials. For instance, used mixed paper grades, wet-strength grades, paper and board with plastic layers. 

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To take another example from the EN643, grade 5.05.00 is described as ‘Used wet labels from wet-strength papers, containing a maximum of 1% glass content, and a maximum of 50% moisture, without other unusable materials.’. Or, grade 5.04.00, which is described as ‘Used kraft paper with a plastic layer. Shall not contain wax coatings’. 

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We hope this has cleared it up a little, though, there is still much more to the different types of paper and board grades within the recycling industry. So check out our other blogs that explore this topic further.