The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) has granted Critical Guidance Recognition to Polyplastics USA for high-gloss HDPE containers with 20 per cent cyclic olefin copolymer (TOPAS 8007F-600) outer layer.

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Polyplastics’ TOPAS cyclic olefin copolymer earns APR recognition
HDPE, Plastic recycling symbol HDPE 2, violet violet blue background
The APR recognition demonstrates that Polyplastics’ TOPAS COC is compatible with the HDPE recycle stream.
Paul Tatarka, Market Development Manager for Polyplastics USA, said: “This APR recognition for COC is an important development for brand owners, manufacturers, and processors who seek recycled packaging solutions to meet today’s broad sustainability needs. We are now able to offer important evidence that COC can be used and recycled in HDPE in rigid blow molding applications.”
Blow moulded HDPE containers with 20 per cent COC outer layer present a very challenging test condition. This package satisfies the strictest APR Critical Guidance criteria of procedure HDPE-CG-01 and of the APR’s bottle-to-bottle test protocol. These APR protocols are intended to improve the quality of the recycled bottle stream by helping companies make informed decisions about the consequences of packaging solutions.
Polyplastics is working actively with current customers to develop extrusion blow molded (EBM) rigid containers for personal care applications. The company will also work with APR to meet its Critical Guidance for the use of COC in flexible film recycling streams.