prEN 18120-5

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-oktober-2024
Embalaža - Načrtovanje, ki omogoča recikliranje plastične embalaže - 5. del:
Smernica za togo plastično embalažo iz polietilen tereftalata (razen PET-plastenk)
Packaging - Design for recycling of plastic packaging - Part 5: Guideline for PET rigid
packaging (except bottles)
Verpackung - Recyclingorientierte Gestaltung von Kunststoffverpackungsprodukten - Teil
5: Leitfaden und Protokolle für starre Verpackungen aus PET (außer Flaschen)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 18120-5
ICS:
13.030.50 Recikliranje Recycling
55.020 Pakiranje in distribucija blaga Packaging and distribution of
na splošno goods in general
83.080.20 Plastomeri Thermoplastic materials
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
September 2024
ICS 55.020; 13.030.50; 83.080.20
English Version
Packaging - Design for recycling of plastic packaging - Part
5: Guideline for PET rigid packaging (except bottles)
Verpackung - Recyclingorientierte Gestaltung von
Kunststoffverpackungsprodukten - Teil 5: Leitfaden
und Protokolle für starre Verpackungen aus PET
(außer Flaschen)
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 261.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.

This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2024 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 18120-5:2024 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Design compatibility of PET Rigid packaging (except bottles) with recycling . 6
Bibliography . 15

European foreword
This document (prEN 18120-5:2024) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 261
“Packaging”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document has been prepared under a standardization request addressed to CEN by the European
Commission. The Standing Committee of the EFTA States subsequently approves these requests for its
Member States.
Introduction
EN 18120 consisting of 15 parts aims via a series of guidelines and protocols to establish consistency and
improvement for the Design for recycling of household, industrial and commercial plastic packaging.
— Part 1: Definitions and principles for design-for-recycling of plastic packaging
— Part 2: Process and governance to evaluate the recyclability of plastic packaging
— Part 3: Sortability evaluation process for plastic packaging
— Part 4: Guideline for PET bottles
— Part 5: Guideline for PET rigid packaging (except bottle)
— Part 6: Guideline for PE and PP rigid packaging
— Part 7: Guideline and protocols for PE and PP flexible packaging
— Part 8: Guideline for PS and XPS packaging
— Part 9: Guideline for EPS packaging
— Part 10: Recyclability evaluation process for plastic packaging — Protocols for PET bottles
— Part 11: Recyclability evaluation process for plastic packaging — Protocols for PET other rigid
packaging
— Part 12: Recyclability evaluation process for plastic packaging — Protocols for PE and PP rigid
packaging
— Part 13: Recyclability evaluation process for plastic packaging — Protocols for PE and PP flexible
packaging
— Part 14: Recyclability evaluation process for plastic packaging — Protocols for PS and XPS packaging
— Part 15: Recyclability evaluation process for plastic packaging — Protocols for EPS packaging
Design for recycling guidelines are a common way of describing compatibility with plastic packaging
collection, sorting and recycling into high quality recycled plastic into state-of-the-art facilities. They
provide guidance on the level compatibility, defined as:
— green: Packaging constituents with full compatibility with recycling;
— yellow: Packaging constituents with limited compatibility with recycling;
— red: Packaging constituents which are not compatible with recycling.
Recyclability guidelines will require regular review and improvement to reflect innovations in design,
collection, sorting and recycling.
The design for recycling guidelines provided in this series of standards are representative of the state of
the art in Europe and cover all steps from design for recycling, packaging waste collection, sorting,
recycling into recycled plastic and to use in a new application.
Packaging recyclability is the combination of two parameters: packaging designed for recycling and the
existence of a recycling stream. Design for recycling guidelines act as a first indicator

1 Scope
This document covers the design of PET rigid packaging (except bottles) with respect to compatibility of
the design with the collecting, sorting, and recycling processes.
Packaging constituents and packaging components made of other materials than PET are also covered by
this standard as they need to be evaluated on compatibility with polymer recycling.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
prEN 18120-1, Packaging — Design for recycling of plastic packaging — Part 1: Definitions and principles
for design-for-recycling of plastic packaging
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in prEN 18120-1 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp/
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
4 Design compatibility of PET Rigid packaging (except bottles) with recycling
4.1 General
Generic aspects for design compatibility with recycling are covered in prEN 18120-1, Packaging — Design
for recycling of plastic packaging — Part 1: Definitions and principles for design-for-recycling of plastic
packaging.
4.2 General considerations for PET rigid packaging (except bottles)
PET rigid packaging is designed to be lightweight and highly functional, to provide protection for
sensitive goods. PET Rigid packaging (except bottles) should be designed in a way that the recycled
material can go back into the highest possible application and ideally to stay in the packaging loop.
When it is designed for a food contact application (which is the most prominent use of PET containers) it
should be done in a way that the recycled material can go back into food contact applications replacing
virgin materials, thus it is important to maintain the characteristics of the virgin polymer as much as
possible.
When it is designed for a non-food application it should be designed in a way that it does not harm the
recycling of food contact rigid packaging into food contact applications as expressed in Commission
Regulation (EU) 2022/1616.
There are many non-food packaging items where the inclusion of recycled material can be
accommodated. All the different applications of PET rigid packaging (food and beverage, medical,
personal care, homecare, homecare, industrial and others) need to be considered.
The design guidance provided in this document covers a) main packaging components which constitute
PET rigid packaging, with all their integrated components and all constituents, including those which are
removed during the recycling process and b) separate components of other types of packaging which
constitute PET rigid materials, with all their constituents, including those which are removed during the
recycling process.
It does not apply to other types of separate components (which are already separated before the sorting
process) as per the definition of Part 1 of this series of standards and as determined according to Part 3
of this series of standards. Separate components are to be evaluated separately, as described in Part 1 of
this series of standards. As such, a separate component can be fully compatible with recycling even when
an integrated component or a constituent of the same specification would only have limited or no
compatibility with recycling according to the guidance in this document. Equally, separate components
can be not compatible with recycling even when an integrated component would be compatible.
The following packaging components should be addressed in standard design for recycling guidelines:
— material;
— size of the packaging;
— colour;
— barrier layer (material and % inclusion);
— additives (material, % inclusion);
— lidding films and other closures;
— labels (material, % surface coverage);
— adhesives (labels, sealing or laminating adhesives);
— inks for labels and printing;
— direct print;
— other components (material, attachments, coatings).
Besides the main packaging component made from PET, closures, labels, and sleeves (including inks used
and varnishes) are indispensable since they play an essential role in providing information to consumers
required by law such as nutritional information, health and safety warnings, manufacturers address and
recycling information as well as barcodes and branding.
Full body sleeves or wraps, coloured packaging and/or additives and barrier layers can also be necessary
to protect the packaged product, e.g. from UV radiation or to increase shelf life considerably. The
functions of these mentioned additions need to be considered when setting thresholds of allowed
amounts and components.
The following general principles should be followed when designing rigid PET packaging:
— make the packaging of mono material PET unless multilayer material is necessary for technical
reasons e.g. to avoid food waste (see decision tree below);
— use uncoloured polymers where possible, mainly in the main component of the packaging;
— place decoration, information, and functional barriers in or attached to secondary components that
can be easily removed from the PET material such as lids or liners made of polyolefins that can be
also recycled as a secondary material;
— decoration needs to be minimised and be compatible with recycling processes;
— if the pack needs barrier additives or barrier layers, make sure they do not interfere with its
recyclability;
— the closure or lidding system, label and/or ancillary components should be of materials and design
allowing easy separation (e.g. via sink/float) from the main container in order to avoid interfering
with PET recycling;
— the adhesives used for bonding the different elements of the packaging should be minimized and
should be easily removable (washable adhesives) and be compatible with the recycling process;
— elements such as soaker pads and external cardboard or paper wrapping must be manufactured in
such a way that they are easily separable by the consumer, preferably that their complete removal is
necessary to access the product or that they are not firmly adhered to the packaging, facilitating their
separation during disposal by the consumer and collection. If these elements are eliminated in these
stages, they will not interfere with recycling as they are separate constituents;
— the product restitution rate should be maximised leaving only a minimal residue;
— the complete container needs to be separable by widely available
...