Quantity and quality of paper-based packaging in mixed MSW and separate paper collection – a case study from Vienna, Austria

• Paper and paper-based packaging is increasing, particularly as a plastic substitute. • There is an unexploited potential of 21,300 t/yr of clean paper packaging in Vienna's mixed MSW. • Non-food, secondary food and primary food packaging of dry and liquid food was found suitable for separate collection and recycling. • By collecting more suitable packaging, the separate collection rate could be increased from 54 to 76 %. • Paper-based composite packaging should be monitored due to increasing amounts but low recyclability. Given the increasing trend towards paper-based packaging, this study investigated paper, paperboard, and paper-based composite packaging in municipal solid waste (MSW) in Vienna by manual sorting. It identified 25,336 t/yr of paper and paperboard packaging in mixed MSW and 8,335 t/yr in separate paper collection (SPC). Primary food packaging had higher shares in mixed MSW (14–29 %) compared to SPC (8–16 %), while non-food and secondary food packaging dominated both streams. The latter two and dry food packaging deemed most suitable for SPC and recycling due to their low contamination. Improving their separate collection could increase the total separate collection rate from 54 % to 60–76 %. Composite packaging was mainly disposed of in mixed MSW (4,611 t/yr), with fibre-plastic composites dominating over fibre-plastic-metal composites, whereby the latter proved to be less manually separable. The study highlights the need for appropriate disposal methods and effective consumer communication on separate collection to increase recycling of paper packaging.