‘The use of the term recyclable is consistently used with packages and products without a defined reference point,’ says Steve Alexander, President and CEO of The Association of Plastic Recyclers. ‘At the end of the day, recyclability goes beyond just being technically recyclable there must be consumer access to a recycling program, a recycler must be able to process the material, and there must be an end market.’
‘Recently, we have seen many announcements regarding legislative measures on plastics products and pledges of the industry actors committing to making their products recyclable,’ adds Ton Emans, President of Plastics Recyclers Europe. ‘As recyclers, we are a fundamental part of the solution to the issue of sustainability of plastics, and we need for the appropriate audiences to understand what is necessary to label a product or package ‘recyclable’. Clear and universally endorsed definitions and objectives are needed.’
Plastics must meet four conditions for a product to be considered recyclable:
- The product must be made with a plastic that is collected for recycling, has market value and/or is supported by a legislatively mandated program;
- The product must be sorted and aggregated into defined streams for recycling processes;
- The product can be processed and reclaimed/recycled with commercial recycling processes;
- The recycled plastic becomes a raw material that is used in the production of new products.
Innovative materials (such as new bioplastics) must demonstrate that they can be collected and sorted in sufficient quantities, must be compatible with existing industrial recycling processes or will have to be available in sufficient quantities to justify operating new recycling processes.
A global definition of recyclability is an integral step to harmonize the worldwide plastics recycling industry. However, both promoters understand the complexity of a global recycling system for plastics and invite the plastics recycling industry and relevant stakeholders to comment.
