Plastic Recyclers Group Launches Post-Consumer Resin Certification Program

(Photo Credit: Willfried Wende, Pixabay)

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), an international trade association that represents the plastics recycling industry, introduced a post-consumer resin certification program. This effort is aimed at helping increase the supply and demand of post-consumer recycled plastics.

Post-consumer resin (PCR) certification needs to be reliable, consistent, and accessible by both the producers and the users of recycled plastic resins, the association said.

The association’s members include independent recycling companies that process resins, equipment manufacturers, testing laboratories, organizations committed to plastics recycling, and a number of consumer product companies such as Danone, Nestlé USA, PepsiCo, SC Johnson, and Unilever.

According to APR, the new PCR Certification Program has three components:

1. APR endorses qualified third-party companies to conduct certifications.
2. Plastic reclaimers hire the APR endorsed companies to certify their PCR.
3. APR members present their PCR certification to APR for nationwide promotion.

Because California Senate Bill 270 says that reusable bags distributed or sold in California must meet certain standards, including recycled content, the association said that any plastic reclaimer’s PCR certified under those state requirements will be considered certified PCR.

“The APR PCR Certification Program promotes the critical link between the reclaimer actually making PCR and the customer wanting to use PCR,” the association said.

In related news, the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division announced a set of principles for mass balance certification standards. Their goal with the principles is to improve traceability, help increase plastics recycling, and support markets for the outputs from advanced plastics recycling.