APR - Scott Trenor

Improving PCR Volume and Quality for your Packaging Applications Scott Trenor, Ph.D. Technical Director, APR February 28, 2024 © 2023 The Association of Plastic Recyclers

• Introduction to APR • Recycling in US • APR Design® Guide for Plastics

Agenda

• Categorization and importance • Label focused guidance from recycling collection to pellets • Packaging design generalizations

• Innovations enabling circularity

Who is APR?

Who is APR? APR is a US-based international non-profit and the only North American organization focused exclusively on improving recycling for plastics.

What Do We Do? Our mission is simple:

RECYCLE MORE PLASTICS to reduce waste.

APR Member Sampling RECLAIMERS/RECYCLERS

AFFILIATES

View all APR Members »

Together, APR’s 300+ members span the entire value chain and shape the future of our industry.

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Reclaimers/Recyclers

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Brand Owners Retailers Converters Equipment Manufacturers Testing Laboratories Certifiers Label & Ink Manufacturers Resin Manufacturers Additives Manufacturers Researchers Technical Consultants And more!

Increase Supply

Ensure plastic gets into the recycling system and stays out of landfills and the environment

Enhance Quality

APR Primary Goals

Guide companies on design and processing to reduce contamination and improve recyclability

Expand Demand

Identify solutions to expand use of post-consumer recycled content and reduce extraction of natural resources

Communicate Value

Ensure policy makers and companies recognize the value of recycled content and the recycling process

APR Programs Are Circular by Design® Together, we can reduce plastic waste and move towards a circular economy

APR Design® Guide

APR Global Design Catalog

APR Demand Champions

APR Design® Training

APR PCR Certification

APR Design® Recognition

Buyers & Sellers Directory

APR Model Bale Specifications

Policy

Education

APR’s Policy Efforts

Policy

Reduction & Circularity Across All Materials to Reduce GHG Emissions Better management is necessary1

1: Stijn Billiet & Scott Trenor ACS Macro Lett. 2020, 9, 9, 1376-1390 2: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Completing the picture: How the circular economy tackles climate change (2021)

Circulatory essential to reducing GHG emissions2

Mechanical Recycling – Smallest Loop & Lowest GHGs

1. https://albertaplasticsrecycling.com/resources-education/plastics-recycling-in-four-simple-steps/ 2. The Association of Plastic Recyclers; Life Cycle Impacts for Postconsumer Recycled Resins: PET, HDPE, and PP

U.S. Sourced Post-consumer Plastic Pounds Recovered for Recycling in 2021

So Much More Potential Feedstock

The Recycling Partnership: State of Recycling The Present and Future of Residential Recycling in the U.S. 2024

APR Design® Guide for Plastics

Is my packaging recyclable?

Design

The APR Design® Guide is your tool to ensure a package design is compatible with the North American recycling system.

To be considered recyclable*, companies must consider all the following criteria:

Access

Markets

• Design for recyclability

• Consumer access to recycling • Acceptance of a package in the recycling stream

• End markets for products made from the recycled plastic

* For unqualified claims in the U.S., refer to FTC Green Guides

Acceptance

APR Guidance Covers Entire Recycling Process: Collection to Pellets

The APR Design® Guide views a package as a compilation of design features

Each design feature is classified into a recyclability category APR Design® Preferred

Detrimental to Recycling Renders the Package NonRecyclable

Requires Testing

Why is APR Preferred design important?

In a circular economy, consumer product companies are their own material suppliers.

Companies benefit when their packaging is not only recyclable, but also yields high quality post-consumer resin (PCR). This is why APR distinguishes between Preferred and Detrimental features.

Companies whose packaging contains Detrimental features are reducing and lowering the quality of their own future supply of PCR. Improving features so that the entire packaging achieves Preferred Design for Recycling supports a healthy recycling system and increases PCR supply.

Preferred:

recyclable with maximum quality and yield

Detrimental: recyclable but reduces yield and/or quality

Design Features Drive Whole Package Assessment Design Features Design features are classified according to the APR Recyclability Categories or test results where testing is required.

Base Resin Color Dimensions Closures

Labels Adhesives Inks Barriers Additives

Attachments

Whole Package Assessment

Preferred Design for Recycling

Tolerated but Needs Improvement

Non-Recyclable

APR Alignment with Other North American Organizations Pathway to circularity

Recyclable

Recyclable by California Law

Check locally

Not Yet Recycled

Widely recycled PREFERRED DESIGN

TOLERATED BUT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

NON-RECYCLABLE

CALIFORNIA & PRODUCT DESIGN • CA Truth in Labeling (SB343): Four criteria to be labeled recyclable, including compliance with APR Design Guide • CA EPR Program (SB54): Higher fees (ecomodulation) for products that are detrimental to recycling based on APR Design Guide

IN

1- Lg Size

OCC

2- Md Size

NEWS OR LEDGER

MRF Sorting Steps

NIR

BULKY RIGIDS 4- 2d3d 3 – Sm Size

MIXED PAPER

2D

3D

WASTE

NIR = Optional

NIR

GLASS

Alternate Fe location

HDPE

5- NIR NIR

PET

NIR

6- Mag

7 - Eddy Al Residue

PP

Fe

The APR Sorting Potential Protocols Navigating Through the MRF

• Size • 2D/3D • NIR • Metallic

Note: More reliable than on-site MRF tests because ✓ They are designed to represent the average MRF ✓ They include the reclaimer sorting process ✓ They are repeatable

https://plasticsrecycling.org/sortation-nir-metals-size

Design Guide Generalizations for MRF Survival • Size

• < 2 gallons • > 2” in 2 dimensions – otherwise requires testing

• 2 dimensional • If one dimension of the uncompressed package is < 5cm • If the package is anticipated to be compressed to less than 5cm • Labels and coverage – must allow for accurate identification of underlying package • Metal containing pigments, foils, components or metallization requires testing to determine how metal detector sees it.

• Dark colors • Traditional black colorants prohibit proper sorting • </= 10% NIR reflectance or L value < 40 requires testing

https://plasticsrecycling.org/sortation-nir-metals-size

APR Guidance Covers Entire Recycling Process: Collection to Pellets

Reclaimer Unit Operations • Sort entire articles (NIR & Color) • Liberate components from each other

• Separate components into independent streams • Cut articles into flake → pelletize Copywrite APR – not to be used without express written consent from the APR or Common Sense Solutions

Labels & Reclaimer Unit Operations Key is Ink / label / adhesive combination

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Sort → properly identify underlying container (NIR & Color)

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Liberate → full bottle wash, wet/dry delabeler

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Adhesive→ designed to enable desired fate

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Separate → sink/float or elutriate

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Ink → retain or release basis label fate

Ejected Flake

Poorly Designed Labels Reduce Quality & Yield Primary component: Flake with pressure sensitive label

Impact of Paper Labels → Always Detrimental

PET Design Guide Generalizations • Color

• Clear, transparent light blue or transparent green – Preferred • Other colors detrimental • Not recyclable if not NIR sortable

• Closures: PP or PE • Labels (meet sorting requirements) +

• Direct print that flakes off • Pressure sensitive – floating polymer + recycle friendly adhesive + ink that adheres to label • Wrap around – floating polymer + hot melt adhesive + ink that adheres to label • Paper is detrimental • Shrink sleeves • PO + ink that adheres to label • CPET + wash off ink

• Pumps/triggers – all plastic made of PE, PP, TPO etc. https://plasticsrecycling.org/pet-design-guidance

HDPE Design Guide Generalizations • Color

• Natural & white have most value • All colors allowed if NIR sortable

• Closures: PE best or PP – limit total PP % to < 10 wt% of total package • Density ≤ 0.97 g/cm3 • Labels (meet sorting requirements) +

• Direct print that flakes off • In mold – PP or PP Preferred • Pressure sensitive – Paper is detrimental • Shrink sleeves – Any except PVC that allow bottle to be sorted

• Pumps/triggers: All plastic made of PE, PP, TPO etc.

https://plasticsrecycling.org/hdpe-design-guidance

PP Design Guide Generalizations • Color

• Natural & white have most value • All colors allowed if NIR sortable

• Closures: PP best or PE – limit total PE % to < 10 wt% of total package • Density ≤ 0.97 g/cm3 • Labels (meet sorting requirements) +

• Direct print that flakes off • In mold – PP or PP Preferred • Pressure sensitive – Paper is detrimental • Shrink sleeves – Any except PVC that allow bottle to be sorted

• Pumps/triggers: All plastic made of PE, PP, TPO etc.

https://plasticsrecycling.org/pp-design-guidance

Innovations Enabling Circularity

• Replaces traditional aluminum lidding • Allows for PP monomaterial packaging • Decreases loss due to Al lidding

RECYCLING WORKS

when we all work together

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Scott Trenor

scott@plasticsrecycling.org © 2023 The Association of Plastic Recyclers