More plastic recycling needed, RecCylass is coming : EuPR

LONDON (Scrap Monster): Plastics Recyclers Europe(EuPR) believes that the present plastic packaging design is a threat to the European Union recycling targets. A new set of guidelines would be launched early next year.

Plastic packaging recycling does not begin with collection but design. Packaging design today is focused mainly on maximizing performance. Careless design often leads to recyclability issues.

The new challenge should be that recyclability becomes a requirement fully equal to the other performance criteria. This will help to divert substantial quantities of plastics away from landfill and incineration into recycling hence moving them to a higher category according to the EU waste hierarchy.

EuPR urges that more plastic recycling is the need of the hour. Designers need to put in additional efforts to ensure that their creations are fully recyclable.

Designers must pay increased attention to evaluate their products from a recyclability point of view. In addition they must improve the standards by choosing the best options. EuPR believes that a refined EU classification system has to be formulated to this effect. According to EuPR, such a system would assist designers to evaluate the quality of their creations. The new system named RecyClass is a tool to the recyclability of any plastic package.

RecyClass as a common market approach will build on existing Design for Recycling Guidelines. It will offer an easy method to determine the recyclability class of any plastic package, based on a scale from A to G (seven classes comparable to EU energy efficiency classes).

EuPR is planning to launch RecyClass at the Interpack trade show in Dusseldorf, Germany, next year May.