Design Guidelines for Plastic Bottle Recycling

APR recognizes the need for bottle innovators, plastic bottle designers, fabricators, and packaging decision-makers to understand how packaging design decisions can affect container recyclability and to design packages to be compatible with the broadest range of recycling operations and technologies. The guiding principle of any packaging design must be “fitness of purpose.” Beyond this, designing to enhance recyclability should be in the forefront of design considerations. To maximize a bottle’s recycling potential, it is vital to consider the compatibility of the bottle’s construction with current plastic bottle recycling technology. Incorporating “design for recyclability” criteria will increase the potential for well-designed packaging to be reused and remanufactured into new products which have value to the consumer and enhance the economic viability of plastic bottle recycling.

For more information visit the Technical Resources > Design for Recyclability Guidelines section on this website