Design for Recycling

The right design of plastic packaging has a major influence on its recyclability. For this reason, guidelines have been developed in various European countries that are to be used as the basis for ecological design in the future. As an active member of the “Alliance for Recycling”, Stäger was at the forefront of shaping the design guidelines in Switzerland. These are closely based on directives emerging in parallel in the European area. However, with the further development of recycling and material technology, the guidelines will change again and again in the future. Some of the most important guidelines are:

  1. Use of standard materials that can be processed in large quantities and thus easily sorted out (e.g. PET)
  2. Use of mono materials
  3. Use of transparent, non-colored material
  4. Designs that allow easy separation of different materials
  5. Avoidance of small parts
  6. Containers can easily be emptied to avoid contamination in the recycling process
  7. Labeling of plastic packaging so that it can end up in the correct waste stream or be properly separated

Plastic recycling is currently in a state of upheaval. Large investments will be made in recycling capacity over the next few years. At the end of this process, the unpleasant properties of plastic packaging will be eliminated in Europe and the many positive properties of plastic packaging will continue to have an increased effect.