Cirplus Is Setting Standards For Recycled Plastics And You Can Be Part Of It
The DIN-SPEC 91446 Is Open For Review And Waiting For Your Comments!
Click here to read the standards and make sure to comment until 21 July 2021.
In August 2020, Christian Schiller (CO-Founder & CEO of cirplus) together with the German Institute of Standardization (DIN) initiated the DIN SPEC 91446, a standard created to facilitate the use and digital trading of recyclates and plastic waste. Since then, Prof. Hans-Josef Endres and Dr. Madina Shamsuyeva from IKK (Institut für Kunststoff- und Kreislauftechnik) are leading the consortium composed of 16 companies from the plastic industry, with the ultimate goal of defining a system for the classification of recycled plastics and plastic waste.
The first step towards this goal is already done: creating a draft of this classification system. The second step? Here is where you come into play. The draft is open for public review until 21 July 2021, and anyone from the plastic or recycled plastic industries can comment on it. The commentary will then be used as feedback to improve the standards.
After the commentary phase is over and all the feedback is taken into consideration by the consortium, the final version of the standards will be presented to DIN, which shall give its final approval until 15 September 2021. The standards will be published and ready to be used by the end of October 2021.
But before you comment, you might have some questions. As the initiators of the DIN SPEC 91446, we for sure have the answers you are looking for. We gathered the most important information below, but you can also click here to check the complete version.
[How] Can You Comment On The DIN SPEC 91446?
You can read and comment on the DIN SPEC 91446 draft by following these steps:
- Visit this page and register to the DIN website. You will then receive an email confirming if your registration was successful.
- Once you have an account, go to the same page, login and click on “read the draft and comment”.
- The new page displays all sections of the DIN SPEC 91446 draft. Expand the section you wish to read to reveal its content. Click in/on “Abschnitt kommentieren” to comment on the desired section.
- You will land on this page if you never submitted any comment to a DIN draft before, and you need to be approved by DIN in order to be able to complete the process. Click on the “send” button and you will receive the form for granting copyrights via email. Please read it carefully then download, print and sign it. Once done, you will have to send the signed document to DIN via post and wait for their confirmation. DIN’s postal address can be found in the email you received together with the form.
[What] Exactly Is The DIN SPEC 91446?
The DIN SPEC 91446 is the classification of recycled plastics based on Data Quality Levels for use and (digital) trading. The classification system is intended to support parties involved in the trading of recycled plastics and plastic waste feedstock by bringing transparency about the materials being traded. The standards introduce definitions of terms (for example definitions for PIR and PCR), labels for identification of recycling type and recycled content of materials, and quality grades that define the amount of data available for the material being traded.
These quality grades are called DQLs (Data Quality Levels), and they classify recycled plastics based on the available data known about the material. The more information provided, the higher the DQL.
[Why] Should You Comment On The DIN SPEC 91446?
The plastics processing industry needs reliable information. Insufficient standards are a significant barrier to greater use of recycled materials. Standards help to ensure consistent, reproducible quality of materials, enabling recyclates to be commercialized at scale, with security and clarity between both buyer and seller sides.
The standards are made for you. If you are part of the plastic and recycled plastic value chain, you will benefit from it. And this is your chance to improve it.
[When] Will The DIN SPEC 91446 Be Ready To Use?
The standards will be published and ready to use on 30 October 2021. Until then, the consortium is making its best efforts to produce the best and most useful standards for the industry.
[Who] Else Is Part Of The Consortium Responsible For The Standards?
The consortium model was chosen to include all the participants of the recycled plastics value chain, so the point of view of each stakeholder could be taken into consideration in the final result of the standards. Among the 16 companies, there are recyclers such as Der Grüner Punkt, Tomra and Remondis involved and, to represent the buyer side, plastic processors such as Greiner AG and Polifilm are also taking part.
The research side is represented by Kunststoff-Institut Lüdenscheid, Süddeutschen Kunststoff-Zentrum (SKZ). Associations such as IKV (Institut für Kunststoffverarbeitung Aachen) and BDE (Bundesverband der Deutschen Entsorgungs-, Wasser- und Rohstoffwirtschaft) also take part in the consortium.
You can find the full list here.
And What’s Next?
Yes, DIN-SPEC is a German standard. But we are not stopping here! This is only the beginning. Our goal is to transfer the DIN SPEC into European and international norms and standards, so it can be accepted and used worldwide.
