The concept is an interactive tool that allows packaging designers to input all the details of the packaging design and displays the recyclability of the packaging. The tool is designed to work for almost all packaging designs, regardless of material choice and complexity. By showing how individual choices affect the recyclability of the whole, the tool will demonstrate which changes the designer should make to improve recyclability. By testing alternative design choices in the tool, the designer will be able to see which solutions yield the best results and thus optimize the design for the sorting and recycling process. Additionally, the tool contains explanations of the reasons why choices have the impact they do, which can also enhance the designer's knowledge and understanding of the system.

Because currently this knowledge is dispersed and fragmented through multiple sources which packaging manufacturers need to manually go through in order to get insights on how design decisions affect recyclability. The ability to test in real-time how different material combinations impact the recyclability of the whole packaging has never really been there, making this a valuable tool, backed by technical explanations of the results. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first tool of its kind in the world, in its ability, materials coverage and flexibility.

To successfully transition to a circular economy, we need to ensure that more of the materials in packaging are recycled. This is a significant challenge, especially for plastic packaging, which the entire industry and all parts of the value chain are facing. For example, in 2019, only 23% of plastic packaging from Norwegian households was recycled, and by 2025, we must reach 50% to meet EU requirements. Many measures need to be taken to succeed in this, and one of the most important is to ensure that the packaging placed on the market is designed to be suitable for sorting and recycling. This calculator allows much quicker and better informed choices which has been very well received by the industry in their efforts to achieve circular economy goals.