PAP 21
The pack is flat, solid board, the kind of thin card cereal and shoe boxes are made of. PAP 21 is not corrugated (20) and not thin paper (22).
- Material
- Non-corrugated fibreboard
- Code
- PAP 21
- Family
- Paper and card
- Defined by
- Commission Decision 97/129/EC
Which bin, usually
Usually the paper-and-card or mixed-recycling bin. Cereal boxes and shoe boxes are among the US EPA's examples of card it accepts, flattened.
Whether this goes in your recycling depends on your local collection; check your council or municipality's sorting guide.
The material
Non-corrugated fibreboard: flat, solid board with no fluted layer (paperboard, boxboard).
Where you see it
Cereal, tea and biscuit boxes, shoe boxes, toothpaste and medicine cartons, and the card sleeves on ready meals.
What it does not mean
Flat board with a plastic or foil layer bonded on (such as a drinks carton or a paper cup) is a composite, not PAP 21.
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 21 in a triangle of arrows
- PAP 21, PAP21 or 21 PAP in plain text
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: Non-corrugated fibreboard, PAP, 21) — checked 2026-09-23
- US EPA: How Do I Recycle Common Recyclables (Cardboard containers and 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.