Purpose
This web site has been prepared to assist plastic bottle designers, fabricators, and packaging decision-makers in constructing bottles for a wide range of specific product applications that are also 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 that have value to the consumer and enhance the economic viability of plastic bottle recycling.

The presentation in this document is restricted to plastic bottle recycling, although many other forms of plastic recycling exist. And, it only addresses the major types of plastic bottle recycling that currently exist, including PET, HDPE, PP and PVC plastic bottles.

These Guidelines are just one component of the APR’s Design for Recyclability Program, which strives to eliminate barriers in plastic recycling by providing information – through technical programs, guidelines and testing protocols – to the plastic packaging industry in order to determine which elements of a new package design may or may not affect the recycling of that package in conventional recycling systems currently in operation. A chart depicting the elements of APR’s Design for Recyclability Program follows.

Overview of Plastic Bottle Recycling Collection

Most of the plastic bottles collected for recycling today come from curbside collection programs where householders separate designated recyclable materials from their trash and place them out for collection in special receptacles or bags. These recyclables may include containers such as glass and plastic bottles, milk cartons, juice boxes, aluminum cans and foil, and steel cans, as well as newsprint and other recyclable paper products. Some communities allow householders to commingle recyclables, by placing recyclables of different material types into the same receptacle. Others require some level of material segregation, known as source separation. For example, many curbside collection programs require that newsprint and cardboard be bundled, or placed in separate receptacles, and placed alongside receptacles with commingled recyclable containers. These materials are then picked up by the municipality or a contract waste hauler and taken to a materials recovery facility (MRF) for further separation and processing.

Some states and counties have implemented collection systems with even higher levels of source separation. Source separation represents the best opportunity for producing the highest value and highest quality raw materials for recycling since cross-contamination of materials is much less likely. The most common source separation approaches consist of the following:

• Bottle collection in states that have bottle deposit legislation;
• Programs that require the homeowner to set out separate containers for each recyclable material;
• Programs where commingled recyclables are separated at the truck by collection crews; and
• Programs that employ drop-off centers where homeowners are asked to take recyclables to a drop-off location, separate them by material type, and place them into designated receptacles.

Materials are then collected and sent to a MRF, an intermediate processing center, or directly to a specific material processor.