Eco Friendly Packaging Tape Guide

Finding eco-friendly products to sell or use in your business is confusing. There’s a lot of products that claim to be environmentally friendly or part of the circular economy but it can be hard to separate the truth from false claims, also known as greenwashing. Adding to this, we’re beginning to see bans come through of problematic plastics on a state level. 

As Australia’s leading adhesive tape converter and wholesaler, Stylus Tapes is hoping to help you understand the different options that businesses have for eco friendly packaging tape.  

If you prefer to read this guide as a PDF, download it here.

Can packaging tape be eco friendly?  

The traditional plastic packaging tape that we’re familiar with can’t be easily recycled in normal facilities and will take many years to break down in landfill. At the moment, most packaging tape is either disposed of by the user into a landfill bin, or separated by the box recycler and sent to landfill or incinerated.  

But don’t worry – there’s a lot of eco friendly alternatives coming to the market. In this guide  we’ll take you through all the options.  

Our Definition: Eco friendly tapes are adhesive tapes that can be recycled or composted, and/or made from biobased or recycled materials.  

APCO and the 2025 National Packaging Targets  

APCO was created to educate and encourage adoption of the 2025 National Packaging Targets announced by the Australian Government. There are about 500 members of APCO across the packaging supply chain. 

The 2025 National Packaging Targets apply to all packaging that is made, used and sold in Australia. 

The targets, with the aim to be achieved by 31 December 2025 are:  

• 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging.   
• 70% of plastic packaging being recycled or composted.   
• 50% of average recycled content included in packaging (revised from 30% in 2020). 
• The phase out of problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging.   

To read more about the targets, visit the APCO website.  

Can tape meet 2025 National Packaging Targets? 

Absolutely, all of the eco friendly tape in this guide meets the 2025 National Packaging Targets as they are either recyclable, compostable or made from recycled content.  

Types of Eco Friendly Packaging Tape  

Kraft Paper Tapes

Our Kraft Paper Tapes can be recycled along with cardboard cartons and are suitable for heavy duty packaging.  

Some of our paper tapes are FSC Certified meaning that the paper and roll cores have been sourced from responsibly managed plantations.  

For heavy duty packaging, the paper is reinforced to give the tape more strength. These appear as straight lines and are visible along the tape.  

Paper tape can be mostly recycled, along with the cardboard boxes it may be stuck to. During the pulping process, the small amount that isn’t recyclable such as adhesives or the  reinforcement float to the top and are skimmed off. Importantly, it doesn’t contaminate the process and prevent cardboard and paper from being recycled. 

See the Stylus range of Eco Friendly Paper Tapes  

Water Activated Paper Tape 

Water Activated Tape (WAT) does not stick until it is activated by water, using a dispenser. WAT tape has been around for many years and recently regained popularity, partly because it’s the tape that Amazon uses to seal its boxes. Two advantages to WAT tape is that the residue that it leaves means it’s a tamper evident seal and it can be more affordable than other eco friendly tapes. 

Stylus currently has two types of WAT Tape; Smartape 230 Plain Kraft Tape and Smartape 240 Reinforced Kraft Tape

Compostable Packaging Tape 

Compostable tapes are made from a plant based film and are considered to be an effective eco friendly alternatives to plastic film, especially for packaging applications when a clear film is preferred. 

They are considered to be an effective eco friendly alternatives to plastic film, especially for packaging applications when a clear film is preferred.

When buying a compostable tape, make sure that they are certified by a credible third party to adhere to international standards. Our compostable tape, called Monta 860, made from PLA has been certified by TUV Austria for meeting the requirements on composability in an industrial setting and meets the following standards: EN 13432 09-2000, ASTM D6400-23, AS 4736-2006 and ISO 17088:2021.  

Not only can compostable tapes be used for sealing cartons, but they are suitable for sealing compostable bags and films and for bundling compostable items such as flowers and garden waste. 

See the Stylus range of Compostable Packaging Tapes 

WARNING: There is a growing list of products that claim to be biodegradable.  All compostable plastics are biodegradable, but not all biodegradable plastics would be considered compostable. Of particular concern are oxo-degradable products that  involve the addition of an additive during the manufacturing process. Oxo-degradable plastics quickly fragment into smaller and smaller pieces, called microplastics, but don’t break down at the molecular or polymer level like compostable plastics. The resulting microplastics are left in the environment indefinitely.

Recycled / Recyclable PET tape 

Recycled plastic tapes are tapes made from recycled materials, eliminating the use of virgin plastic. This tape meets the target for the 2025 National Packaging Target of ‘50% average recycled content in all packaging’. The Target specifies that the plastic must be Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) which means it must be recycled from waste generated by households or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities. 

PET Recyclable tapes are made from materials that are more easily and viably recyclable than existing tapes. Stylus 119 is made from PCR PET which has the potential to be recycled with other packaging made from similar material. 

See the Stylus range of Recycled plastic tape 

Custom printed packaging tape

 

Want to print on eco-friendly tape?  

The following products are available to be printed with logos or specific messages to meet customer requirements.  

• Monta 860 PLA Compostable tape with natural rubber adhesive  
• Ubis 4800 Paper Tape with hot melt adhesive  
• Ubis 4801 FSC reinforced paper tape with hot melt adhesive 
• Ubis 4805 FSC paper tape with natural rubber adhesive  

Learn more about our custom printed tape range and how to order.

Eco Friendly Packaging Tape Comparison

*Can be custom printed

Stylus: The Adhesive Tape Experts 

We hope this guide has helped but we know that finding eco friendly products can be overwhelming. If you’d like to speak to an adhesive tape expert to discuss the best option for your clients or business then we’d be happy to help, just contact us today. 

 Stylus Tapes is excited to lead Australia’s eco and environmentally friendly adhesive tape category. 

We’re Australia’s and New Zealand’s leading adhesive tape specialist, wholesaler and converter with extensive nationwide warehouse facilities. We provide expert knowledge, supply competitively priced innovative products and are committed to a sustainable future.  

All the information contained in this guide is given in good faith for guidance only & not specification purposes. The Purchaser shall be responsible for determining the suitability of the product for their purposes.

You can download a copy of this guide in PDF format.