CR 14311:2002

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-september-2002
Embalaža - Označevanje in sistem prepoznavanja materialov
Packaging - Marking and material identification system
Verpackungen - Kennzeichnung zur Erkennung und Identifizierung des
Verpackungsmaterials
Emballage - Marquage et systeme d'identification des matériaux
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CR 14311:2002
ICS:
55.020 Pakiranje in distribucija blaga Packaging and distribution of
na splošno goods in general
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

CEN REPORT
CR 14311
RAPPORT CEN
CEN BERICHT
April 2002
ICS
English version
Packaging - Marking and material identification system
This CEN Report was approved by CEN on 16 June 2001. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 261.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36  B-1050 Brussels
© 2002 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CR 14311:2002 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents
Foreword.3
Introduction .4
1 Scope .5
2 Discussion of legislative requirements .5
2.1 General.5
2.2 Marking of packaging .5
2.3 Identification of packaging material .5
2.4 Other markings.6
3 Criteria for marking.6
3.1 General principles.6
3.2 Opportunities for harmonisation.6
3.3 Application of marking .7
3.4 Identification of material .7
4 Conclusion.7
Annex A (informative) Material identification .8
Bibliography .9
Foreword
This document (EN 14311:2002) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN /TC 261, "Packaging", the
secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and the European
Free Trade Association, and relates to articles 8 and 10 of the EU Directive 94/62/EC (Bibliography).
Introduction
The purpose of specifically marking packaging and identifying materials would be to convey information to those in
the packaging chain (from raw material manufacturers through converters, packer/fillers to retailers), to end-users
(including consumers) of the packed products and to those in the waste management industry concerned with
packaging waste.
A proposal for a Directive on the subject of marking (bibliography) and a decision relating to identification system
(bibliography) have been issued both of which support the Directive 94/62/EC. The purpose of this report is to
consider these supporting documents required by article 8 of the Directive (94/62/EC) and to investigate how they
relate to the requirement in article 10 for the preparation of European standards relating to "criteria for the marking
of packaging". This study has been based on work carried out over several years in TC 261 and particularly its
working group SC 4/WG 1 and the various positions established by that working group, (bibliography).
1 Scope
This CEN report examines the marking of packaging and the identification of packaging material as described in
article 8 of the packaging and packaging waste Directive 94/62/EC, the supporting Decision and the proposal for a
Directive on Marking and makes recommendations based on article 10 of that Directive 94/62/EC.
2 Discussion of legislative requirements
2.1 General
Article 8 of the Directive 94/62/EC draws a distinction between the "marking of packaging" and the "identification
(of) the nature of packaging material(s) used".
This section of the report will deal with the issues separately in terms of the legislation being enacted.
2.2 Marking of packaging
The proposed Directive on marking does not contain a requirement for a CE mark to indicate that packaging placed
on the market meets the essential requirements of the Directive 94/62/EC. The reasons given for this are fully
endorsed.
Given the sound reasons for not requiring a CE mark, the European Commission could have proposed that no
marking concerning essential requirements was necessary. It has however decided to single out two aspects of the
essential requirements, "Reusable packaging" and "Recyclable packaging" on the basis of the Directive statement
"until scientific and technical progress is made …. reuse and recycling should be considered preferable in terms of
th
environmental impact". However this 8 "whereas" clause in the Directive 94/62/EC continues with a statement
that, "life cycle assessments should be completed as soon as possible to justify a clear hierarchy between
reusable, recyclable and recoverable packaging" TC 261 points out that scientific studies now available show that
there is no clear hierarchy between reusable, recyclable and recoverable of packaging unless under very specific
local conditions.
In addition the apparent prioritisation of reusability and recyclability and the direct link of these aspects with a mark
for essential requirements appears inconsistent. This text takes into account only two essential requirements;
packaging put on the market has to comply with all essential requirements defined by the Directive 94/62/EC
including Annex II.
The consequence of this decision is that the absence of a mark on a particular packaging, for example a packaging
recoverable by energy, could be interpreted as meaning that such packagin
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