Plastics recycling is widely accepted as a milestone on the road to zero plastics in landfilling.

Today however, products are very often designed without any real knowledge of their actual recyclability and often the design of a packaging has a detrimental impact on recycling. Consequently, the first step in minimizing the negative impact of a product on the environment shall be its design.

Earlier this year, Plastics Recyclers Europe, the association that represents over 100 plastic recyclers in Europe, launched RecyClass, a platform for recyclability assessment, which is the key step in ensuring better recycling of plastic packaging.

This new tool will help packaging designers to find the correct way to approach and evaluate their new products.
Accessing the web platform, it is possible to evaluate to which extent a certain package is suitable for recycling. A scale resembling the well-known energy efficiency rating from "A" to "F" will help in the assessment. A package easy to recycle will receive an "A" rating, while an "F" will indicate that incineration is the only feasible option. Moreover, the system will provide advice on adjustments able to improve the tool's rating result.

The RecyClass web tool is available on the Internet and will remain free of charge until December 31, 2014.