PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2020

INSPECTION 46 PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 09/20 www.petpla.net Virgin or recycled PET- How to recognise? Thanks to the new EU directives and the Plastic Strategy, the motor of the recycling econ- omy in the plastics industry is running at full speed. Announcements by the major packag- ing manufacturers such as Nestlé, Henkel and Co. state that the use of recycled material in their packaging will be increased to at least 30-50% by 2030. This puts pressure on the recycling market. Where do to get so much recycled material from? Especially since recy- cled material is usually more expensive than virgin. To ensure that the cheaper virgin mate- rial cannot be sold as recycled material, testing systems are gradually establishing that reveal the origin of the recycled material. RecyClass is finalising its certifica- tion for the traceability of recycled con- tent in plastic. The certification’s goal is to account for traceability of recycled content in new plastic products which are placed on the EU market. This will allow for a transparent and responsible communication on recycled plastics use. Based on the international stand- ard on chain of custody, as well as the European standard on plastics tracea- bility, the Recycled Plastics Traceability Certification: Audit Scheme guarantees transparency and integrity of claims regarding recycled content in plastics. Gian de Belder, chairman of the Advisory Board of RecyClass said: “The Certification will enable a reliable declaration of recycled content, boost consumers’ credibility in product’s qual- ity, and verify its responsible produc- tion.” This Certification adds to EuCert Plast, a traceability scheme in for recy- cling processes. EuCert Plast is the first step of ensuring the quality and origin of recycled material. Recycled Plastics Certification, therefore, attests the traceability of recycled content in products throughout the value chain until they are placed on the market. The integrity of the Recycled Plastics Traceability Certification was verified and approved via several trial audits which took place at converters’ and brandowners’ sites, including Aqua d’Orin Denmark, Resilux in Belgium, Armando-Alvarez and Kl ӧ ckner Pen- taplast in Spain, and ColPack in Italy. The on-site trial audits were conducted by independent third-party auditors: Aimplast, HTP cyclos, Sachverstän- digenbüro Mechthild Ahausand Dott. P.I.Marco Tabani, which accredited that the right systems and tools are in place to trace recycled content during the production process in accordance with the Audit Scheme. The Certification will be fully operational during the third quarter of 2020 where the Certifica- tion’s Quality Management Systems and Processes will be in place. www.recyclass.eu The already existing quality marks also supplement their guidelines by indicating the origin of the recycled material. How something the RAL qual- ity mark : The criteria for the award of the RAL quality mark cover the process steps in the chain of recyclable materi- als from the production of the recyclate to the production of new beverage packaging up to the filling process. The award criteria have now been extended to the production of PET flakes and adapted to the current state of the art technology. In addition, PET flakes manufacturers, the suppliers for granu- late production, can now also receive the RAL quality mark. The RAL quality mark indicates the recycled content in the bottles. The Quality Associa- tion for the Recyclable PET Beverage Packaging Chain, in which the users of the quality mark are united, includes representatives from the entire recy- clable packaging chain: PET recyclers who produce recyclates for food contact material, manufacturers of preforms, up to beverage producers and bottlers of mineral water and soft drinks. One criterion for the award of the RAL quality mark is the use of at least 25% recycled PET material in the production of new PET beverage packaging. www.ral-guetezeichen.de/en Flustix is a sustainability label for plastic-free and partially plastic- free products as well as goods made from recycled plastics. The goal is to reduce the use of consumer plas- tics which account for 80% of plastic waste found in nature. Flustix analy- ses products and supply chains and then labels approved items with the Flustix certification mark. PETplanet talked to Malte Biss, CEO of Flustix: PETplanet: What was the incen- tive for the test seal and what does it stand for? Biss: The plastic problem world- wide has reached unprecedented dimensions, which is why our plastic consumption urgently needs to be reconsidered. Flustix therefore tests and labels plastic sustainable prod- ucts in an independent and transpar- ent way. Our motivation is to promote a more responsible use of plastics, to reduce the use of disposable plastics and to achieve an intact recycling economy. We at Flustix realise that there is also a great need for trans- parency regarding the use of recycled materials in goods, packaging and also for the raw materials. Therefore, we created our supplementary seal “Flustix Recycled”.