Paper Tape: Plastic-Free Box Sealing That Recycles With the Box
Plastic packing tape is a contaminant the recycling system would rather not see — and it's reported in the higher-fee plastic category. Gummed paper tape seals just as securely, sits in the lower-fee paper category, and pulps with your cardboard as a single fibre stream.
Why tape is worth a second look
Cardboard is one of the most widely recycled materials in the UK, collected at kerbside almost everywhere and recycled five or six times over. But the tape you seal it with affects how cleanly it recycles.
Plastic packing tape is a contaminant. Recyclers prefer it removed: it can snag sorting machinery and end up in the recyclate as "stickies" that reduce the quality of the recovered fibre. A small amount of plastic tape usually survives the process — boxes with light tape are still recyclable — but heavy plastic tape coverage can cause a load to be downgraded or rejected.
Gummed paper tape avoids the problem at source. Because it's paper with a starch-based adhesive, it breaks down in the same pulping process as the box. There's nothing for the customer to peel off and nothing to separate — the whole sealed parcel is one fibre stream.
Not all "paper" tape is equal
This is the distinction most suppliers gloss over, and it matters if you're switching for genuine recyclability rather than appearance.
Gummed (water-activated) paper tape uses a starch or dextrin adhesive — paper backing, fibre-compatible adhesive, no plastic. It's genuinely mono-material: it pulps with the box as a single fibre stream. This is the one to choose if your goal is a clean, single-material parcel.
Self-adhesive "paper" tape has a paper backing but a pressure-sensitive plastic adhesive (often acrylic or rubber). The backing looks like paper, but the adhesive is a significant share of the tape's weight — so it isn't truly mono-material. It's a step down from plastic tape in look and feel, but it shouldn't be relied on for a single-fibre-stream claim.
Our honest steer: if you want the real recyclability benefit, choose gummed paper tape. We stock self-adhesive paper tape too, for buyers who want a paper look with the convenience of a pressure-sensitive roll — but we won't tell you it's something it isn't.
Not sure whether gummed or self-adhesive suits your packing line? Our team can help you choose — and explain the trade-offs honestly.
Our paper tape range
Mono-material — single fibre stream
The mono-material range of just paper tape with a starch or dextrin adhesive, the best option if you want to focus on cutting your EPR costs. Part of our full range of packaging that reduces EPR fees.
Gummed paper tape (water-activated)
Starch-adhesive kraft tape activated with water — bonds firmly, pulps with the box, and recycles as one fibre stream with nothing to peel off.
Reinforced Gummed Paper Tape
Fibreglass-reinforced water-activated tape for heavier cartons — a strong, tamper-evident seal that still breaks down with the box in the paper stream.
Paper-backed — reduced plastic
Our paper-backed range reduce the amount of plastic you use and the paper tape looks eco-friendly, so if you are looking for a tape that looks more environmentally friendly and is more convenient than gummed paper tape, this is the range for you.
Sealing mono-material boxes? See our recyclable cardboard boxes and paper void fill.
Self-adhesive paper tape
Paper backing with a pressure-sensitive adhesive — a paper-look alternative to plastic tape for convenience; not a fully mono-material seal, but lower plastic than standard packing tape.
Custom Printed Self-adhesive paper tape
Paper-backed tape printed with your branding for standout parcels — a paper-look alternative to plastic tape, though the adhesive remains plastic-based.
White self-adhesive paper tape
Clean white paper-backed tape for a crisp, professional seal — paper appearance with a pressure-sensitive adhesive, so lower plastic but not fully mono-material.
Where tape fits the bigger picture
Switching to gummed paper tape does two things. Most obviously, it keeps the parcels you ship in cardboard as a clean, single fibre stream — the direction the whole recycling and pEPR system is steering packaging: mono-material, contaminant-free, recycled in real UK infrastructure.
It also moves the tape itself to a lower-fee category. Tape is packaging you place on the market and report, so plastic packing tape is reported as plastic, while gummed paper tape is reported as paper — and paper carries a much lower base fee per tonne. So switching plastic tape to gummed paper tape moves that weight out of the higher-fee plastic category into the lower-fee paper one, the same mechanism that drives the saving on mailers, boxes and void fill.
The honest caveat: tape is lightweight, so the tonnage involved is small. The category saving is real, but it's a smaller number in absolute terms than switching your mailers or void fill — tape's bigger contribution is keeping those heavier items a clean paper stream. (This category saving applies cleanly to gummed paper tape, reported as paper. We don't extend it to self-adhesive paper tape, whose plastic adhesive makes its categorisation less clear-cut.)
It pairs naturally with mono-material boxes, paper void fill and paper mailing bags for an all-paper dispatch.
Shop paper tape
Click the links below to buy our paper tape products.
Mono-material — single fibre stream
Paper-backed Self-Adhesive Tape — reduced plastic
Explore the full EPR packaging range
Every product below is chosen to help lower your EPR fees — by switching to a lower-fee material category, cutting weight, or keeping packaging a single recyclable stream. Start with the EPR-friendly packaging hub for how the fees work, or go straight to a product family:
- Mono-material mailing bags — paper mailers that replace two-material bubble-lined bags, assessed as a single paper component.
- Paper protective packaging & void fill — paper void fill, bubble wrap and honeycomb that replace plastic, recycled in one paper stream.
- Recyclable cardboard boxes — the lowest-fee mainstream material, with SMART fluting to cut weight without losing strength.
- Paper tape & closures — gummed paper tape that seals boxes and recycles with them as one fibre stream. You're here already!
- Lightweight stretch film — thinner, stronger film that puts less plastic by weight on every pallet.
Not sure where the biggest saving is? Send us your current packaging and we'll model it.