Overview
ISO 6590-1:2025 - Packaging - Vocabulary - Part 1: Paper sacks is an international vocabulary standard that defines terms commonly used in paper sacks manufacture. The second edition updates the original 1983 edition and standardizes terminology for single- and multi-ply paper sacks (and paper-combination sacks where paper is the main component). The standard explicitly excludes bags intended for retail trade. ISO 6590-1:2025 is intended to remove ambiguity in technical documents, drawings, specifications and test methods across the paper-sack supply chain.
Key topics
The standard is a comprehensive glossary covering practical manufacturing and construction concepts. Major technical topic areas include:
- General construction terms: paper sack, ply, tube, gusset, flat/gusseted tube, flush-cut/stepped/notched tube.
- Air permeability and perforation: definitions for air permeability perforation, micro-perforation, and sack perforation used to facilitate air release during filling.
- Pasting and joining methods: definitions for pasting (longitudinal, cross), heat sealing, ultrasonic sealing, and sewing - clarifying adhesive, extrusion and welding terminology.
- Sack bottom and bottom types: definitions for bottom, bottom pasting/sewing/sealing, bottom cap, and bottom geometries such as hexagonal (cross) bottom, pinch bottom, rectangular bottom, and sewn bottom.
- Valve types and filling features: sewn-sack valves (simple, internal/external sleeve) and pasted hexagonal bottom valve types (reinforced, tubular, pocket, sealable).
- Detailed construction descriptors: filling/closed end, front/back side, longitudinal overlap and other manufacturing details.
Practical applications and users
ISO 6590-1:2025 is valuable wherever consistent packaging vocabulary is required:
- Manufacturers - streamline design, production and quality control documentation for paper sacks.
- Product designers and engineers - ensure unambiguous communication of sack geometry, bottom and valve types.
- Procurement and supply chain teams - write clear purchase specifications and contracts for paper sacks.
- Testing laboratories and certification bodies - harmonize test reports and method descriptions that reference sack features.
- Standards bodies, technical writers and translators - maintain consistent terminology across international documents.
- Training and onboarding - provide a single authoritative source for industry terminology (micro-perforation, bottom pasting, tubular valve, etc.).
Related standards
- ISO 6590 series (other parts) - for additional vocabulary or related packaging definitions.
- References in the document include ISO 21067-1:2016 for terms such as heat sealing; consult the ISO Online Browsing Platform for cross-references and full normative texts.
For implementation or legal use, consult the official ISO 6590-1:2025 publication from ISO or your national standards body for the complete text and reproduction permissions.
