How do you calculate a packaging recyclability score?

Multiply three 1-10 ratings: severity of the recyclability failure, its occurrence across the stream, and the detection ability of your screening. With severity 6, occurrence 4 and detection 3 the raw product is 72, and the calculator reports a normalized recyclability risk score of 4.55 on its scale.

What is a good packaging recyclability risk score?

There is no universal threshold; it is relative. Rank every SKU and act on the top decile first. Many teams set an internal action line (for example, escalate anything scoring above the 75th percentile of their portfolio) rather than chasing an absolute number.

Why multiply the three scores instead of adding them?

Multiplication makes a high score in any one dimension dominate, so a format that is catastrophic when it fails (high severity) still surfaces even if occurrence is moderate. Adding would let a low detection score wash out a serious problem.

Recyclability score vs. recycled content percentage: what's the difference?

Recycled content measures what went into the pack; the recyclability score measures whether the pack can be recovered at end of life. A carton can have high recycled content and still score badly on recyclability if it uses an unsortable coating.

How do I lower the detection score for a format?

Detection improves when failures are caught early and reliably: NIR-sortable resin choices, design-for-recycling audits at concept stage, and supplier material declarations. Each of those reduces the detection rating, which lowers the overall risk score.

Can I compare scores across different packaging categories?

Only if you used the same anchored scale and definitions for severity, occurrence and detection. Comparing a flexible film RPN to a rigid PET RPN is valid only when both were scored against identical criteria.

Sustainable Packaging & EPR Compliance calculator

Packaging Recyclability Score Calculator

The Packaging Recyclability Score is an FMEA-style risk priority number (RPN) applied to packaging formats. Instead of scoring a defect on a production line, you score how likely a pack is to fail material recovery: severity of the environmental and EPR-fee consequence, how often that failure occurs across the stream, and how well your material screening or design review detects it beforehand. Packaging engineers, sustainability leads and EPR compliance teams use it to triage which SKUs to redesign first when they cannot fix everything at once. It turns fuzzy "this laminate is a problem" debate into a comparable number you can sort a portfolio by.

What this calculator does

Estimate packaging recyclability for sustainable packaging and epr compliance using production-ready inputs so teams can rank risks and decide which issue needs containment, controls, or escalation first.
Use it when packaging recyclability in sustainable packaging and epr compliance needs a defensible ranking against other sustainable packaging and epr compliance risks for the next review.
It multiplies severity, occurrence and detection scores into a single recyclability risk priority number so packaging formats can be ranked against each other.

Formula used

Packaging recyclability risk score = packaging recyclability severity score × packaging recyclability occurrence score × packaging recyclability detection score
Use the same scoring scale across comparable packaging recyclability risks.

Inputs explained

Recyclability severity (impact if it fails to recycle):
Recyclability occurrence (how often the format ends up non-recyclable):
Recyclability detection (chance material screening catches the issue):

How to use the result

Use it when triaging a packaging portfolio ahead of eco-modulated EPR fee deadlines or a design-for-recycling program, to decide which formats get redesign budget first.
RPN is ordinal, not linear: an RPN of 60 is not twice as bad as 30, and identical products can score very differently unless every rater uses the same anchored 1-10 scale and definitions.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for plastic resins and materials stands at 319.371 (BLS, May 2026), up 19.5% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The producer price index for paperboard and containers stands at 276.831 (BLS, May 2026), up 8.8% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.

Common questions

How do you calculate a packaging recyclability score? Multiply three 1-10 ratings: severity of the recyclability failure, its occurrence across the stream, and the detection ability of your screening. With severity 6, occurrence 4 and detection 3 the raw product is 72, and the calculator reports a normalized recyclability risk score of 4.55 on its scale.
What is a good packaging recyclability risk score? There is no universal threshold; it is relative. Rank every SKU and act on the top decile first. Many teams set an internal action line (for example, escalate anything scoring above the 75th percentile of their portfolio) rather than chasing an absolute number.
Why multiply the three scores instead of adding them? Multiplication makes a high score in any one dimension dominate, so a format that is catastrophic when it fails (high severity) still surfaces even if occurrence is moderate. Adding would let a low detection score wash out a serious problem.
Recyclability score vs. recycled content percentage: what's the difference? Recycled content measures what went into the pack; the recyclability score measures whether the pack can be recovered at end of life. A carton can have high recycled content and still score badly on recyclability if it uses an unsortable coating.
How do I lower the detection score for a format? Detection improves when failures are caught early and reliably: NIR-sortable resin choices, design-for-recycling audits at concept stage, and supplier material declarations. Each of those reduces the detection rating, which lowers the overall risk score.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.