Norway-based Norner has gained official approval as a RecyClass certification body and recognised laboratory, the organisation has announced.
RecyClass was developed in response to the growing need for a more circular approach to end-of-life packaging by Plastics Recyclers Europe as a tool for making consistent evaluations of the recyclability of plastic packaging.
Packaging used to be only about delivering products and processes with maximum efficiency and product protection with the lowest possible weight. While this was for many years a successful formula, today, mounting concerns about the twin problems of plastic waste and the current low recycling rates have given rise to demands from both consumers and authorities for these problems to be addressed.
As a result, the plastics packaging value chain, from producers to end users, is rethinking the current approach to packaging. Recyclability has become a key aim.
Recyclass makes it possible to assess and certify - through a process of third-party verification by auditing- the recyclability of the various packaging types. It evaluates the compatibility of plastic packaging with the entire waste management chain, which includes collection, sorting, recycling, and ability of the recycled material of being reused in its original application.
RecyClass has thereby become a key enabler in developing recyclable plastics packaging and as an officially recognised laboratory, Norner has now become part of this network. The organisation boasts a new Polymer Exploration Centre with more than 4500 sqm of plastic laboratories for advanced testing and analysis as well as a high-tech plastic processing, recycling, application, and packaging centre.
“The recycling pilot centre is key to delivering the RecyClass laboratory protocol testing,” said Ole Jan Myhre, Market Manager and Packaging Advisor.
“Recycling of plastics is on the rise and the attention has never been higher. We can only be successful in doing this if the recycled materials can be offered to the market with a high quality and stringent specifications.”