New standard aims to improve the quality of recycled plastics

Created in collaboration with the IKK – Institute of Plastics and Circular Economy and the Kunststoff-Institut Lüdenscheid, DIN SPEC 91481 seeks to address the issue of inadequate data surrounding recycled plastics, providing clear guidelines for their classification and description, to improve quality assurance.

DIN SPEC 91481 offers guidelines for calculating and labelling the recyclate content and type alongside characterising plastic waste as a source material for recycling.

The new standard hopes to facilitate the large-scale commercialisation of polyamide-based recyclates and plastic waste raw materials.

Simultaneously, the collaborative partners have developed a new digital product passport (DPP) for recycled plastics and waste along the entire value chain – from raw material to compound – with hopes of implementation at the European level.

The DPP, compliant with DIN SPEC 91481, aims to ensure the data quality of the material over its entire lifecycle, producing and distributing frequently absent information at the raw material level.

According to Cirplus, the wide reach and application of digital platforms within the new standard “paves the way for a paradigm shift towards a truly circular plastics industry, catalysed by standardisation and digitalisation.”

Commenting on the lack of standards acting as a barrier to the growth of the plastic recyclate market, Christian Schiller, Founder and CEO of Cirplus, 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,"

The standard for recycled plastics

The new standard builds on DIN SPEC 91466 – also created by Cirplus – and applies the data quality standards established in that context to the particular specifications of polyamide recyclates.

The standard’s predecessor, which has already found application in the packaging and construction sectors, was adopted by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) in early 2023. This integration of the standard occurred within the structure of VDA Recommendation 284, a guideline delineating the utilisation of plastic recyclates in the automotive sector.

Speaking on the value of the new standard, Prof. Hans-Josef Endres, Head of the IKK at the University of Hanover and Consortium leader of DIN SPEC 91481 said: "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 defossilisation and a more CO2-neutral recycling economy in the plastics industry”.