Guidance Recognition

The Recognition Program is an initiative that is intended to build upon the work of the APR Technical Committee to recognize those companies that successfully design products that meet or exceed the voluntary guidelines for avoiding disruptions from innovative packaging technologies in the PET and HDPE bottle recycling streams.

The APR has developed and approved Critical Guidance Document(s) (CGDs) for PET and HDPE and Applications Guidance for PET and HDPE. The CGDs provide a limited number of critical, testable properties for PET and HDPE bottle innovations. Other issues may also be important. The properties listed are deliberately few and represent key concerns. The CGDs set the stage for further analysis of specific applications such as Bottle-to-Botle. Both the CGDs and the Applications Guidance offer defined test samples and test methods and suggest guidance values for interpreting test results.

At this time, the PET Application Guidance has four sections: Bottles-to-Bottles, Bottles-to-Strapping, Bottles-to- Sheet, and, Bottles-to-Fiber. HDPE Application Guidance includes Bottles-to-Bottles and will likely include Bottles-to-Sheet, and, Bottles-to-Pipe in the future. The main features of the Recognition Program are:

• An Innovator enters into agreement with APR for review of its material (