Monomaterial

In the context of flexible packaging, a monomaterial refers to a material that is primarily made from one type of plastic – typically PE or PP-based. Following the mono-material approach of the CEFLEX D4ACE guidelines, a structure is considered ‘mono’ if more than 95% of its main component consists of a single polymer type. The remaining portion may consist of printing inks, adhesives or thin functional layers such as barrier coatings – provided these do not interfere with the recycling process. A mono-material structure is therefore not automatically recyclable: whether a specific packaging is recyclable depends on its complete structure and the intended recycling stream and is assessed separately.

Common mono-materials:

Mono-material vs. mono-film

The term mono-film describes the specific design of a single film. Monomaterial, on the other hand, describes the material logic of a multi-layer film composite, which consists predominantly of a polymer family.

Examples:

Sources as of 23 January 2025: