PAP 20
The pack is corrugated board, the fluted brown card of shipping boxes. PAP 20 is one of three paper codes; the number tells corrugated board apart from flat board (21) and paper (22).
- Material
- Corrugated fibreboard
- Code
- PAP 20
- Family
- Paper and card
- Defined by
- Commission Decision 97/129/EC
Which bin, usually
Usually the paper-and-card or mixed-recycling bin, flattened: the US EPA asks for boxes to be flattened first. Card soaked in food is a local call; the US EPA's guidance accepts greasy pizza boxes once the food scraps are out, and some collections do not.
Whether this goes in your recycling depends on your local collection; check your council or municipality's sorting guide.
The material
Corrugated fibreboard: card with a wavy, fluted layer glued between flat sheets.
Where you see it
Delivery and shipping boxes, outer cases for supermarket stock, fruit and vegetable trays, and pizza boxes.
What it does not mean
PAP 20 does not mean the box is made from recycled fibre.
PAP names the fibre, not the finish. A PAP code does not tell you whether the board is waxed, laminated, heavily printed or food-soiled, each of which a paper mill or your collection may reject. If the pack is paper bonded to plastic or foil, the correct code is a composite (C/PAP 81 to 84), not PAP 20 to 22.
Other ways it is printed
- PAP under a 20 in a triangle of arrows
- PAP 20, PAP20 or 20 PAP in plain text
- 20 in a triangle with no letters
Other paper and card codes
Sources
- Commission Decision 97/129/EC of 28 January 1997 establishing the identification system for packaging materials (OJ L 50, 20.2.1997), as adopted — UK National Archives copy (Annex II: Corrugated fibreboard, PAP, 20) — checked 2026-09-23
- US EPA: How Do I Recycle Common Recyclables (Paper and cardboard: boxes, pizza boxes) — checked 2026-09-23
Written in our own words from these public texts and checked on the date shown. ASTM D7611 and ISO 14021 are sold by their publishers; only their public catalogue text is used here.