Innovation in plastics and packaging is necessary to maintain a healthy and competitive industry. To support innovators, the APR has developed a variety of laboratory test method documents that can be used to assess the impact of a plastic design feature or component on recycling. APR test methods combine laboratory practices and measurements developed specifically by and for plastic recyclers with standard ASTM tests. The objective of testing is to determine the impact of a design feature on the processability of a package item as well as the ability of post-consumer resin (PCR) derived from such feedstocks to meet quality specifications for end-use applications. To view APR’s test method definitions, click here.
ADDENDUM UPDATE
As of March 22nd, 2024 the APR Design Guidance and Guidance Table for PP has been updated with all of the addendum contents. As of this date, these addendums will no longer be available on our website. All future updates will be made directly into the APR Design Guidance and Guidance Table, eliminating the need for separate addendums.
| Design Feature | Recyclability Category | APR Design forRecyclability Test Methods | APR Recognized Commercially Available Options | Additional Resources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BASE RESIN |
||||
| Polypropylene (PP) Content |  Preferred if PP or PP Blends are consistent with ASTM D4101 |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | ||
 Needs Testing if PP or PP blends have unknown material properties |
 PP-CG-01 |
|||
COLOR |
||||
| Unpigmented (Natural) | Preferred |
|||
| Opaque or Translucent | Preferred |
|||
| All other colors | Preferred if L value > 40 or average NIR reflectance is > 10% |
NIR Sortation |
||
| Needs Testing if L value < 40 or average NIR reflectance is ≤ 10% |
SORT-S-01 SORT-B-01 |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | ||
DIMENSIONS |
||||
| Large size boundary | Preferred if ≤ 7.5 liters (2 gal.) in volume |
|||
 Detrimental if > 7.5 liters (2 gal.) in volume Why? |
||||
| Small size boundary | Preferred if > 5 cm (2 in.) in 2 dimensions |
Size Sortation | ||
| Needs Testing Untested size boundary may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-recyclable results |
SORT-B-02 |
|||
| 2D/3D Sortation | Preferred if Smallest uncompressed packaging dimension ≥ minimum dimensions per APR-RES-SORT-05 |
RES-SORT-05 |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | |
| Needs Testing if Smallest uncompressed packaging dimension < minimum dimensions per APR-RES-SORT-05 Use SORT-B-05 test method to determine if packaging is Preferred or Detrimental |
RES-SORT-05 SORT-B-05 |
|||
CLOSURES, CLOSURE LINERS & SAFETY SEALS |
||||
| Polypropylene (PP) Closures, Liners or Safety Seals | Preferred |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | ||
| Polyethylene (PE) Closures | Preferred if Closure is < 10% of total package weight |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | ||
| Detrimental if Closure is ≥ 10% of total package weight Why? |
||||
| Closures, Liners or Safety Seal with density > 1.0 g/cm3 | Preferred if Sinks in water per APR-O-S-01 and Does Not contain PVC |
O-S-01 |
||
| Detrimental if Sinks in water per APR-O-S-01 and Contains PVC materials Why? |
||||
| Needs Testing if Floats in water per APR-O-S-01 |
O-S-01PP-CG-01 |
|||
| Closures or lidding with metal components | Needs Testing Untested closures or liddings may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
SORT-B-03 |
Metal Sortation |
|
| EVA and TPE Liners | Preferred |
|||
| Closure liners or Safety Sleeves made of ANY material that are designed to be COMPLETELY removed before the package can be opened | Preferred |
|||
| Polyethylene (PE) closure liner or safety seal | Preferred |
|||
| Closure liners and safety seals that are composites of AL and paper | Detrimental Why? |
|||
SPRAY DISPENSERS AND PUMPS |
||||
| All Plastic Dispensers, Pumps and Valves made with PP, HDPE, LDPE, and/or PE copolymers including TPO, EVA and TPE elastomers | Preferred if all material floats in water per APR O-S-01 |
O-S-01 |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | |
| Spray Dispensers, Pumps or Valves with density > 1.0 g/cm3 | Preferred if Sinks in water per APR-O-S-01 and Does Not contain PVC |
O-S-01 |
||
| Detrimental if Sinks in water per APR-O-S-01 and Contains PVC materials Why? |
||||
| Needs Testing if Floats in water per APR-O-S-01 |
O-S-01PP-CG-01 |
|||
| Valves or springs made of metal | Needs Testing Untested valves may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
SORT-B-03 |
||
BARRIER LAYERS, COATINGS, ADDITIVES & FILLERS |
||||
| EVOH Barriers | Preferred ifEVOH ≤ 6.0 wt% + PP-g-MAH tie layers with MAH > 0.1 wt% and EVOH:tie layers ratio ≤ 2 |
APR Design® for Recyclability | ||
| Detrimental if EVOH > 6.0 wt% + PP-g-MAH tie layers with MAH > 0.1 wt% and EVOH:tie layers ratio ≤ 2Why? |
||||
 Non-Recyclable if EVOH > 1% with any other tie layers |
||||
| Fillers, pigments or additives with densities greater than 1.0 g/cm3 | Preferred if PP blend density is ≤ 0.97g/cm3 |
APR Design® for Recyclability | ||
| Non-Recyclable if PP blend density is ≥ 1.0 g/cm3 or < 51 wt% of PP blend floats per APR O-S-01 |
O-S-01 |
|||
| Needs Testing if PP blend density is > 0.97 g/cm3 and < 1.0 g/cm3Untested blends may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
O-S-01 |
|||
| "Workhorse" additives | Preferred if PP blend density is ≤ 0.97 g/cm3 |
Needs Testing if PP blend density is > 0.97 g/cm3 Workhorse Additives with unknown PP blend density may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
O-S-01 |
|
| Optical Brighteners | Detrimental Why? |
|||
| Non-PP layers and barrier materials other than EVOH | Needs Testing Untested barrier materials may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
SORT-S-01 PP-CG-01 |
APR Design® for Recyclability | Squeeze Tubes |
| Degradable Additives | SEE APR POSITION PAPER |  APR Position Statement |
||
LABELS, INKS & ADHESIVES |
||||
| Surface Area Coverage for Any Labels used on PP Packaging | Preferred if Surface Area <= 55% for Volumes <= 550mL Surface area <= 75% for Volumes > 550mL |
|||
| Needs Testing Surface Area > 55% for Volumes <= 550mL Surface area > 75% for Volumes > 550mL Higher Surface Area Coverage may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
SORT-B-01 |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | ||
| Polyolefin Film Labels Designed to Remain Adhered to PP Flake | Preferred if Label material does not interfere with PP flake floating in water |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | ||
| Detrimental if Label material, ink or adhesive causes PP flake to sink Why? |
||||
| Polyolefin Film Labels Designed to Seperate from PP Container | Preferred |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | ||
| Film labels with Density > 1.0 g/cm3 that sink in water | Preferred if Label is designed to release from PP container in wash |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | ||
| Detrimental if Label is designed to stay adhered to PP container in wash Why? |
||||
| Film labels that contain PVC | Detrimental Why? |
|||
| Labels containing metal foil or metalized films or Inks | Preferred if 1) Label does not interfere with PP flake floating AND 2) Metalized Area Meets APR Design Guide Preferred Criteria per APR RES-SORT-4 |
RES-SORT-04 |
APR Design® for Recyclability Recognitions | |
| Detrimental if Label causes PP flake to sink Why? |
||||
| Needs Testing 1) Label does not interfere with PP flake floating AND 2) Metalized surface area is > max allowable per APR RES-SORT-4 Use SORT-B-03 test methods to determine if spherical equivalent threshold yields Detrimental or Non-Recyclable results |
SORT-B-03 |
|||
| Paper Labels | Detrimental Why? |
|||
| Film Labels where adhesive release and substrate float/sink behavior are not known | Needs Testing Untested label/adhesive combinations may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
O-S-01 PP-CG-01 |
||
| Label Inks | Needs Testing Untested inks may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
PP-CG-01 |
||
| Direct Printing on PP containers | Needs Testing Untested labels may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
PP-CG-01 |
||
ATTACHMENTS |
||||
| Plastic Attachments with Density > 1.0 g/cm3 | Preferred if Does Not contain PVC materials |
|||
| Detrimental if Contains PVC materialsWhy? |
||||
| Paper Attachments | Detrimental Why? |
|||
| PVC Attachments | Detrimental Why? |
|||
| Polyethylene Attachments | Detrimental Why? |
|||
| RFID | Detrimental Why? |
|||
| Non-PP Attachments | Needs Testing Untested attachments may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
O-S-01 |
||
| Metal, Metalized, and Metal Containing Attachments | Needs Testing Untested attachments may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
SORT-B-03 |
Metal Sortation |
|
| Welded attachments | Needs Testing Untested attachments may yield Preferred, Detrimental, or Non-Recyclable results |
O-S-01 PP-CG-01 |
||
Optical Brighteners
Optical brighteners are not removed in the recycling process and can create an unacceptable fluorescence for next uses of recycled PP. It is difficult to identify material with this negative effect until extremely late in the recycling process where a great deal of added cost has been imparted into a material of low value due to the additive.
Polyethylene closures
Since polyethylene floats in water like polypropylene it is not separated in the reclaimers float-sink tank.When blended with PP it negatively affects the impact properties and can render the material brittle.Although very small amounts of PE, such as that contributed by labels, are regularly accepted by PP reclaimers, closures and dispensers comprising a larger weight percentage of the package have a greater negative affect.
PVC Closures and Tamper-evident safety sleeves
PVC is relatively easy to remove in the float-sink tank since it sinks while the PP floats. However, the float-sink tank is imperfect and even a very small amount of PVC with the recycled PP renders large amounts of it unusable as the PVC degrades at lower temperatures than those at which PP is processed.
Paper Labels
The PP reclamation process involves water and agitation.The paper that detaches from the container when subjected to these conditions becomes pulp, which does not sink intact but remains suspended in the liquid, adding load to the filtering and water treatment systems.Paper remaining adhered to the PP travels with the PP to the extruder where the material carbonizes and causes color defects. Even after melt filtering, the burned smell and discoloration remain with the recycled PP thereby negatively affecting its potential reuse.Non-pulping paper labels used with non-releasing adhesives compound the problem since the entire label enters the extruder.
Metal Foil Labels that pass Metal Sorting Potential Test
If small, not detected, or allowed to pass, these labels, when used with an adhesive that does not release in the wash, either cause the attached PP to sink where it is lost in the float-sink tank or pass into the extruder where they can blind melt filters.
sinking labels
Film labels with density > 1.0 g/cm3 when used with an adhesive that does not release in the wash, remains with the PP and enters the extruder where it is blended with the PP. These polymers from label are not compatible with PP and may cause splay or reduce impact toughness for the recycled PP user.
PVC Labels
When used with an adhesive that releases in the wash, these labels sink in the float-sink tank where they are removed. But because the float-sink tank is imperfect, and even a very small amount of PVC entering the extruder causes severe quality and yield problems, this material is detrimental.
Paper Attachments
The PP reclamation process involves a wash step that removes adhesives and other components.This process renders paper into a pulp which is very difficult to filter from the liquid, adding significant load to the filtering and water treatment systems.Some of the small individual paper fibers will remain with the PP and carbonize when the material is extruded, causing unacceptable quality degradation.
Polyethylene Attachments
When blended with PP it negatively affects stiffness and impact properties. Although very small amounts of PE, such as that contributed by labels, are regularly accepted by PP reclaimers, some attachments comprise a larger weight percentage of the package and therefore a greater negative affect.
Evoh Barrier
Density is an important property and float-sink tanks are critical separation tools used by reclaimers. Many fillers, pigments, barriers and additives used with PP have higher densities and when incorporated into PP can increase the density of resulting PP blend causing it to sink in the float-sink tank. When a PP item sinks during reclamation, the item is lost as waste reducing yield, increasing cost, and thus will be categorized as non-recyclable.
Large Size Boundary
Recycling machinery, particularly automatic sorting equipment, is not large enough to accept items larger than 7.5 liters . Because larger containers jam the systems, most MRFs employ manual sortation before the automatic line to remove the large items. These items are recovered in a stream of bulky rigid containers that are sold and processed as polyethylene since the vast majority of bulky rigid items are comprised of this polymer. Other polymers including PP either negatively affect or are lost by the polyethylene processing.
