Europe's Plastic Recycling Standards

Recycled symbol on plastic

It is possible to recycle all types of plastics, but it is not always economical to do so. Most recycling in Europe is of manufacturing scrap, although used plastic packaging is also widely recycled. In 2009 approximately 4.6 million tonnes of plastic packaging (around 30 percent of the total used) was recycled in Europe.

Standards

A variety of relevant standards in use in Europe. ISO 14001:1996 covers environmental management systems, while EN 15347:2007 covers the characterization of plastics waste. Other relevant standards cover the characterization of various different recyclates. A separate set of standards covers biodegradable types of plastic.

Uses

Recycled plastics are used in packaging and for bin liners and carrier bags as well as fleece clothing and duvet filling materials. Construction materials such as pipes, flooring, ducting and fence posts can also be made from recycled plastics.

Difficulties with Recycling

Plastics are substantially harder to recycle than other materials such as glass and metals since they require processing, not just melting down, in order to be reusable. For many types of recycling it is necessary to sort the plastics by type first, however the heat compression method does allow mixed types of plastics to be recycled together.

References

• European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations (EPRO)
• European Plastics Recyclers (EuPR)
• British Standards Institution

Resources

• WRAP: Uses for Recycled Plastics