APR introduces regional design for recycling program

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Washington, has announced the inaugural APR Design Guide for Plastics Recyclability Regional Training Program Oct. 22-23 in Norwalk, Connecticut, at Van Dyk Recycling Solutions’ 18,000-square-foot state Technology and Material Test Center.

This regional training session supplements The APR Design Guide for Plastics Recyclability Training Program, which is currently offered as a customized program specifically for a particular consumer brand or manufacturer at its facilities. It offers packaging engineers and designers a broader generalized overview, a guided material recovery facility (MRF) tour, a demonstration of APR’s Sortation Potential Protocol as well as an introduction to Van Dyk’s Technology and Material Test Center. Attendance is restricted to the first 50 registrants. Those interested should visit http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=nu7bc4cab&oeidk=a07egibtbpya79be945 to register.

“As the leading international trade association representing the plastics recycling industry, APR is pleased to provide this program to further the reach of the APR Design Guide,” says Steve Alexander, APR president and CEO. “This program provides the opportunity for packaging engineers and designers to experience the sorting principles that are essential to the ultimate recyclability of all packaging in an operating MRF.”

The APR says its definition of recyclable is based on three factors: access to recycling programs, successful sortation and the ability to process recovered material into new material.

This program highlights the sortation process, as well as the recently developed APR Sortation Potential Protocol, which asses the sortability of all materials in the recycling stream.

The association says it is in the final development stages of the four-part Sortation Potential Protocol as part of an ongoing effort to ensure The APR Design Guide for Plastics Recyclability remains the most comprehensive resource outlining the plastics recycling industry’s recommendations in the marketplace today.

Beyond the APR Design Guide, the APR offers a variety of resources for plastics recycling, including test methods, glossaries, references for color and labels, flow charts and other supporting documents.

This program also demonstrates the capabilities of the Van Dyk facility as a "Test MRF," which will allow for multiple test iterations of new package innovation and design in one facility, combining classroom and operational sortation opportunities, the APR says.