DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR PLASTIC BOTTLE RECYCLING

This guide was first written in 1994 and later updated in 1999. Its purpose is to promote the most efficient use of the nation’s plastics recycling infrastructure and to enhance the quality and quantity of recycled post-consumer plastic materials. It offers a valuable overview of the challenges routinely encountered by plastics recyclers and useful recommendations on how these hurdles might be addressed through changes in packaging design. The document was prepared to help plastic bottle designers and fabricators construct bottles for specific applications that are compatible with the broadest range of recycling operations. Bottle types are examined and guidelines recommended to ensure compatibility between the base resin and closures, pigmentation, labels and adhesives, decoration, layers, attachments, etc. It is the APR’s belief that designing to enhance recyclability should be at the forefront of package design considerations. The booklet is free and available from APR Headquarters.

DESIGN FOR RECYCLABILITY OF PET
Criteria To Consider When Evaluating The Recyclability Of A Pet Variant In The Pet Bottle Stream

This document’s objective is to outline criteria to consider if a variant of the PET bottle is being evaluated for recyclability in the existing PET bottle stream. A bottle variant is defined as a bottle accessory such as closures and closure liners, labels and adhesives, decorations, sleeves and seals, basecups and attachments. The document aids PET stakeholders with the goal of maintaining the viability of the recycled PET bottle stream. This document focuses on PET bottles only and offers greater detail than the general guidelines mentioned above.

DESIGN FOR RECYCLABILITY TESTING PROTOCOLS
Labels And Adhesives For HDPE Bottles

This protocol was developed for label and/or adhesive manufacturers to evaluate the impact of their products during a typical recycling process. The overriding philosophy is to produce protocols that provide accurate indications of a product’s compatibility with the HDPE bottle recycling process while maintaining a degree of simplicity so as to be useful to the majority of laboratories. The research for the protocol was conducted at Rutgers University and was funded by the American Plastics Council, the National Association for PET Container Resources, the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute, the Environmental and Plastics Institute of Canada and APR. A testing protocol to evaluate the compatibility of labels and adhesives with PET bottles will be completed soon.