The Role of Standards in Plastic Recycling

Plastic pollution is a pressing environmental issue. Although there is pressure to move towards sustainable materials that can replace plastic,  it is also important to have strategies  for the recycling of plastics. 

Recycling helps reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and lowers the environmental footprint of plastic production. ISO 15270:2008 - "Plastics - Guidelines for the recovery and recycling of plastics" provides comprehensive guidelines for the development of recovery and recycling schemes for plastic waste. But it is also important that consumers have access to information on recycled content claims. ISO 14021:2016 - "Environmental labels and declarations - Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labeling) includes specific requirements on how to substantiate and communicate recycled content claims, helping to avoid misleading information and ensuring transparency in environmental labeling. 

The CEN standard EN 15343:2007 - "Plastics - Recycled plastics - Plastics recycling traceability and assessment of conformity and recycled content" goes a little beyond as it provides requirements for the traceability of recycled plastics, 

Standards for recycled plastics play a pivotal role in ensuring consistency, safety, and quality across various applications, driving the circular economy and sustainable plastic management. For example, the packaging industry relies heavily on standards for food-grade recycled plastics to ensure that materials used in packaging do not contaminate food products. 

The adoption of standards for recycled plastics supports the broader goals of a circular economy, where materials are kept in use for as long as possible, extracting maximum value before being recovered and regenerated at the end of their service life.