Cirplus, a European digital procurement platform for recycled plastics, has developed a new standard to improve the quality of polyamide-based recyclates.
Together with the Institute of Plastics and Circular Economy and the Kunststoff-Institut Luedensheid (IKK), Cirplus has developed a digital product passport for recycled plastics and waste along the entire value chain and provides clear guidelines for classification of waste.
The digital product passport (in accordance with DIN SPEC 91481) ensures comprehensive data collection and processing from raw material to compound with the aim to ensure data quality of material across the product lifecycle.
Cirplus founder and chief executive Christian Shiller said: “Quality variations and price differences between virgin and recycled plastics currently make it difficult to expand the recyclate market.
“Standards facilitate the use and procurement of recycled plastics. They are therefore a prerequisite for the scaling of the recycling industry.
“DIN SPEC 91481 creates more clarity for polyamide-based waste and recyclates and provides an important step towards a deeper digitalisation of the plastics and waste industry.”
Head of the IKK at the University of Hanover, Professor Dr. -Ing. Hans-Josef Endres added: “The new DIN SPEC is an opportunity for all stakeholders in the recycling value chain, including the field of technical plastic recyclates, to remove the current quantitative and qualitative barriers.
“This can make a significant contribution to de-fossilisation and a more CO2-neutral recycling economy in the plastics industry.”
Combined with the wide reach and ease of use of digital platforms, DIN SPEC 91481 paves the way for a paradigm shift towards a truly circular plastics industry, catalysed by standardisation and digitalisation, according to Cirplus.
