RPC Design, part of the UK-based packaging firm RPC Group, has created a grading system to provide an easy visual guide to the sustainability credentials of its packaging.
The grading label will represent the company's sustainability checklist, which includes factors such as lightweighting, reuse, recycled material content, as well as the overall recyclability of the finished pack.
The design, said RPC in a 9 Aug statement, is very similar to the approach adopted in the energy efficiency rating used for products such as electrical appliances.
The grading scale is based on the Recyclass system, developed by the Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) organisation, which provides very good definitions of how recyclable a piece of packaging is on a scale of A to F.
Additional symbols for lightweighting, reuse and recycled material have also been devised and incorporated into the grading system.
“Our new grading scale enables customers to see… all the options in making their product more ‘circular', particularly in terms of its suitability for recycling,” explained RPC Design manager Brian Lodge.
The grading process, Lodge added, can also help RPC identify areas, during the design process, where earlier decisions may have impacted on the overall sustainability of the pack.