Aptar is an active member of the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), an international trade association representing the plastics recycling industry. Member companies of the association span the entire plastic recycling value chain. The association is committed to the success of plastics recycling and keeps close tabs on legislative and regulatory activities around the globe that affect this activity. Importantly, APR helps its members stay current with these changes, working closely with consumer product companies, equipment manufacturers, testing laboratories, organizations, and other market players, such as Aptar, that are committed to providing solutions that aim to improve circularity through plastics recycling.
APR works to provide guidance and support to help companies stay aligned with the evolving dynamics and demands, starting with designing for recyclability. This is a two-pronged approach, using recycled feed stocks and finding ways to have the plastic waste recycled. APR also has several programs in place to support and recognize companies who are actively pursuing these aims. Aptar is pleased to have been the recipient of two of these recognitions for our new SimpliCycle TPE valves.
According to Kara Pochiro, Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs at APR, “Aptar SimpliCycle recyclable valves paired with closures for PET, HDPE and PP bottles qualified for our Critical Guidance Recognition for product innovation in May of 2021. The Critical Guidance Recognition program acknowledges significant new technologies or package components that meet the APR Design® Guide for Plastics Recyclability , aim to solve long-standing problems in plastic packaging related to sustainability, and encourage wide commercial use of such innovations.”
Meeting these guidelines is important in the overall recycling process. For a product to truly be determined as recyclable it must be able to be properly collected and sorted and be compatible with the determined recycling stream. Good packaging design helps to facilitate proper recycling and minimizes contamination in the stream. In turn, this improves the quality of the end product of recycling, by creating high-quality post-consumer recycled resin (PCR) for use in the next generation of products. This is one more way where Aptar continues its heritage of sustainable innovation, working to ensure that our products can be recycled as part of our circular economy vision where plastic is reused or recycled.
For more information about Aptar’s SimpliCycle and our work in designing for recyclability, download our complimentary white paper: Small Yet Impactful: Why It’s Important for Even the Smallest Packaging Elements to Deliver on Sustainability and Performance.
