WEBINAR - Best practices for testing and compliance (rPP, rHDPE and rPET)

Problem statement

One of the biggest challenges for brands to adopt recycled material is navigating the regulatory requirements in a rapidly changing industry. There is a lot of uncertainty due to the lack of standardized guidelines - for example, according to Bloomberg, just 3% of polypropylene gets recycled globally because of technical problems. Furthermore, as rPET recycling rates increase the source stock contains higher levels of impurities.

Many procurement managers that Plastics for Change works with face a lot of uncertainty when testing for the correct technical properties and safety standards. Here are some of the most common questions we receive:

What frequency should REACH testing be conducted? Every 20 tonnes or every 100 tonnes?

Do all 205 unique substances need to be tested for at the same frequency? Or should certain high-risk substances be tested more often?

How should this testing protocol change from the cosmetics industry vs the food and beverage industry?
As rPET bottles go thought several recycling cycles, how will the material properties change? Will the European source stock be more contaminated?
Will the European Regulations become more strict on Benzene testing in rPET? How can brands be prepared?
How can brands lower costs as the demand for high value for recycled material increases?

Objectives

Bring together a working group of industry stakeholders to create a standardized process for testing REACH compliance for rPP, rHDPE and rPET in the cosmetics, food & beverage and homecare sectors.

Key Results

Develop and publish a toolkit for helping brand managers assess the best practices they need to implement when testing recycled polymers.
Provide procurement managers with the resources they need to source recycled material with confidence knowing that they are implementing the best practices for testing.

Plastics for Change resources

Andrew Almack, CEO, Plastics for Change
Karsten Bleymehl, Head of Production Europe, Plastics for Change

The Plastics for Change team will facilitate the workshop and provide technical expertise to the working group. We will also write-up and publish the whitepaper for distribution.