Standard to expand plastics recovery and recycling worldwide

A new ISO International Standard will assist the emerging worldwide market for plastic recovery and recycling.

ISO 15270:2008, Plastics — Guidelines for the recovery and recycling of plastics waste, has been developed to assist all plastics industry stakeholders in the development of :

• a sustainable global infrastructure for plastics recovery and recycling
• a sustainable market for recovered plastics materials and their derived manufactured products.

The standard establishes the different options for the recovery of plastics waste arising from pre-consumer and post-consumer sources. The standard will assist in the selection of methodologies and processes for the management of post-use plastics that may be approached using various strategies.

In general, plastics recovery technologies can be divided into two classes:

• material recovery: mechanical recycling, chemical or feedstock recycling, and biological or organic recycling;
• energy recovery in the form of heat, steam or electricity generation using plastics waste as substitutes for primary fossil fuel resources.

This International Standard also establishes the quality requirements that should be considered in all steps of the recovery process. Selection of any one of the available recycling options should be based on compliance with the following requirements:

• the need to minimise adverse environmental impact
• prior demonstration of sustainable commercial viability
• secure access to viable systems for collection and quality control.

ISO 15270:2008 also provides recommendations for inclusion in material standards, test standards and product specifications. Consequently, the process stages, requirements, recommendations and terminology presented in this standard are intended to be of general applicability.

For more information, visit ISO.