Design for recycling plastic packaging
Level: Core
The purpose of this requirement is to contribute to more circular plastic flows by requiring plastic packaging to be designed for material recycling.
Details
- Type:
- Technical specification
- ID:
- 11515
- Group:
- Creative materials
Criterion text
Primary plastic packaging shall be designed for material recycling. Plastic packaging shall meet the following:
- Plastic packaging1 and any closure2 shall be made of monomaterial3 of one of the following plastics, alternatively separable4 parts of the following plastics:
- Polyethylene (PE)
- Polypropylene (PP)
- Uncoloured polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
- Labels on packaging of PE and PP shall consist of the same material as the packaging.
- Labels on PET packaging shall consist of PP or PE, and not cover more than 40 percent of the packaging surface.
- The plastic packaging shall not be coloured with carbon black.
- The plastic packaging shall not have a print that covers more than 60 percent of the packaging's surface.
- Labels shall be able to be washed off at temperatures below 60° C and shall not cover more than 40percent of the packaging surface.
1The plastic packaging includes hard and soft packaging.
2Closure includes caps and lids.
3Mono materials are plastics which in their material composition consist of one type of plastic polymer, for example polyethylene.
4Separable parts refer to packaging parts that can be easily disassembled by the end user without the need for tools, before being left for recycling.
Verification
The supplier shall, upon request, be able to present any of for example the following:
- Packaging specification (including bottle, can, tray, pouch, and closure) showing at least:
- Materials used in packaging, closure, and any sealing.
- Color of packaging and closure.
- Material that the label consists of.
- Information on the possibility of washing off the label in accordance with the requirement.
- Information on the proportion the packaging surface that is covered by the label.
- Information on the proportion of the packaging surface that is covered by print
- The supplier’s self-declaration including technical documentation of compliance verified by an accredited verification body, accredited for the task in accordance with ISO/IEC 17029 or equivalent standard.
Proposed follow-up
Packaging specification
If the requirement has been verified with a packaging specification, follow up that the information provided by the supplier shows that the materials specified in the packaging specification are in accordance with the requirement.
Self-declaration verified by an accredited verification body
If a verified self-declaration is used to prove that the requirement is fulfilled, request the supplier’s self-declaration, including documentation showing that the requirement is met. The self-declaration shall be verified by a verification body accredited for the task in accordance with ISO / IEC 17029 or equivalent standard.
Information about the criterion
The sustainability criterion includes both hard and soft plastic packaging. The requirement means that only packages in mono material of PE, PP or uncoloured PET currently meet the requirement. Note that low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) are included as they are variants of PE.
Labels that shall be able to be washed off refers to washing in recycling, where the temperature is about 60° C and detergent, and sometimes also compressed air, is added to remove the labels.
There are currently a limited number of accredited verification bodies for ISO/IEC 17029 (Conformity assessment - General principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies) as it is a relatively new standard. This may change, especially if the demand for verifying compliance in this way increases. More information about the standard and accredited verification bodies can be found on Swedac's website.
Environmental goals
Versions history
The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.
- Current ID
- 11515
- Version date
- 2022-03-29