prEN 15344

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-april-2024
Polimerni materiali - Reciklirani polimerni materiali - Karakterizacija recikliranega
polietilena (PE)
Plastics - Recycled plastics - Characterization of Polyethylene (PE) recyclates
Kunststoffe - Kunststoff-Rezyklate - Charakterisierung von Polyethylen(PE)-Rezyklaten
Plastiques - Plastiques recyclés - Caractérisation des recyclats de polyéthylène (PE)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 15344
ICS:
13.030.50 Recikliranje Recycling
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
February 2024
ICS 13.030.50; 83.080.20 Will supersede EN 15344:2021
English Version
Plastics - Recycled plastics - Characterization of
Polyethylene (PE) recyclates
Plastiques - Plastiques recyclés - Caractérisation des Kunststoffe - Kunststoff-Rezyklate - Charakterisierung
recyclats de polyéthylène (PE) von Polyethylen(PE)-Rezyklaten
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 249.
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 15344:2024 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Symbols and abbreviations . 6
5 Characterization of PE recyclates . 6
Table 1 — Characterization of PE recyclates . 7
6 Quality assurance . 11
Annex A (informative) Method for the determination of contaminants . 12
Annex B (normative) Test Method for the determination of bulk density . 15
Figure B.1 — Typical apparatus . 15
Bibliography . 18

European foreword
This document (prEN 15344:2024) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 249 “Plastics”,
the secretariat of which is held by SIS.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document will supersede EN 15344:2021.
This document includes the following significant changes with respect to EN 15344:2021:
— The scope has been clarified;
— Clause 2 “Normative references” was updated;
— Clause 3 “Terms and definitions” was updated;
— Clause 5, including Table 1 “Characterization of PE recyclates” was revised;
— Clause 6 has been clarified
— Annex A was revised (apparatus and procedures)
This document is part of a series on Plastics Recycling which is structured as follows:
— EN 15342, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Characterization of polystyrene (PS) recyclates;
— EN 15343, Plastics — Recycled Plastics — Plastics recycling traceability and assessment of conformity
and recycled content;
— EN 15344, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Characterization of Polyethylene (PE) recyclates;
— EN 15345, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Characterization of Polypropylene (PP) recyclates;
— EN 15346, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Characterization of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) recyclates;
— EN 15347, Plastics — Sorted plastics wastes (parts 1 to 6);
— EN 15348, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Characterization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)
recyclates;
— CEN/TR 15353, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Guidelines for the development of standards for
recycled plastics.
Introduction
Recycling plastics waste is one type of material recovery process intended to save resources (virgin raw
materials, water, and energy), while minimizing harmful emissions into air, water and soil as well as any
impacts on human health. The environmental impact of recycling is assessed over the whole life cycle of
the recycling system (from the waste generation point to the disposal of final residues). To ensure that
recycling constitutes the best environmental option for treating the available waste, some prerequisites
should preferably be met:
— recycling scheme being contemplated should generate lower environmental impacts than alternative
recovery options;
— existing or potential market outlets should be identified that will secure a sustainable industrial
recycling operation;
— collection and sorting schemes should be properly designed to deliver recyclable plastics waste
fractions fitting reasonably well with the available recycling technologies and with the (changing)
needs of the identified market outlets, preferably at minimum costs to society.
This document has been produced in accordance with the guidance produced by CEN on Environmental
Aspects and in accordance with CEN/TR 15353.
NOTE CEN/TR 15353 considers the general environmental aspects which are specific to the recycling process.
It is often impossible to trace back each individual product at the end user stage and to check whether
the product has been used correctly through its life. Consequently, products are out of industrial control
for a period of time. It is possible that during this period contamination with other materials may occur
that could affect the product's suitability for recycling into the intended application.
1 Scope
This document specifies the main characteristics and associated test methods for assessing of
polyethylene (PE) recyclates intended for use in the production of semi-finished or finished products.
It is intended to support parties involved in the use of PE recyclates to agree on specifications for specific
and generic applications.
This document does not cover the characterization of plastics wastes, which is covered by the
EN 15347 series, neither traceability topics which are covered by EN 15343.
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.
ASTM D 1895, Standard Test Methods for Apparent Density, Bulk Factor, and Pourability of Plastic Materials
ASTM D 1921, Standard Test Methods for Particle Size (Sieve Analysis) of Plastic Materials
ASTM D 6980-17, Standard Test Method for Determination of Moisture in Plastics by Loss in Weight
CEN/TS 17627, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Determination of solid contaminants content
EN 12099, Plastics piping systems — Polyethylene piping materials and components — Determination of
volatile content
EN 15343, Plastics — Recycled Plastics — Plastics recycling traceability and assessment of conformity and
recycled content
EN 15346, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Characterization of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) recyclates
EN 15348, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Characterization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)
recyclates
EN 17615, Plastics — Environmental Aspects — Vocabulary
EN ISO 60, Plastics — Determination of apparent density of material that can be poured from a specified
funnel (ISO 60)
EN ISO 179-1, Plastics — Determination of Charpy impact properties — Part 1: Non-instrumented impact
test (ISO 179-1)
EN ISO 306, Plastics - Thermoplastic materials - Determination of Vicat softening temperature (VST)
(ISO 306)
EN ISO 472, Plastics — Vocabulary (ISO 472)
EN ISO 527-1, Plastics — Determination of tensile properties — Part 1: General principles (ISO 527-1)
EN ISO 527-2, Plastics — Determination of tensile properties — Part 2: Test conditions for moulding and
extrusion plastics (ISO 527-2)
EN ISO 527-3, Plastics — Determination of tensile properties — Part 3: Test conditions for films and sheets
(ISO 527-3)
EN ISO 1043-1, Plastics — Symbols and abbreviated terms — Part 1: Basic polymers and their special
characteristics (ISO 1043-1)
EN ISO 1133-1, Plastics — Determination of the melt mass-flow rate (MFR) and melt volume-flow rate
(MVR) of thermoplastics — Part 1: Standard method (ISO 1133-1)
EN ISO 1183-1, Plastics — Methods for determining the density of non-cellular plastics — Part 1: Immersion
method, liquid pycnometer method and titration method (ISO 1183-1)
EN ISO 3451-1, Plastics — Determination of ash — Part 1: General methods (ISO 3451-1)
EN ISO 7765-1, Plastics film and sheeting — Determination of impact resistance by the free-falling dart
method — Part 1: Staircase methods (ISO 7765-1)
EN ISO 11357-1, Plastics — Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) — Part 1: General principles
(ISO 11357-1)
EN ISO 11357-3, Plastics — Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) — Part 3: Determination of
temperature and enthalpy of melting and crystallization
EN ISO 17855-2, Plastics - Polyethylene (PE) moulding and extrusion materials - Part 2: Preparation of test
specimens and determination of properties (ISO 17855-2:2016)
EN ISO/CIE 11664-4, Colorimetry - Part 4: CIE 1976 L*a*b* colour space (ISO/CIE 11664-4)
ISO 13468-1, Plastics — Determination of the total luminous transmittance of transparent materials —
Part 1: Single-beam instrument
ISO 22498, Plastics — Vinyl chloride homopolymer and copolymer resins — Particle size determination by
mechanical sieving
CEN/TR 15353, Plastics — Recycled plastics — Guidelines for the development of standards for recycled
plastics
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN ISO 472, EN 17615 and
CEN/TR 15353 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
4 Symbols and abbreviations
For the purposes of this document, the symbols and abbreviations related to recyclates given in
EN ISO 1043-1 apply.
5 Characterization of PE recyclates
A single batch is the quantity of PE recyclates that has homogeneous characteristics within the specified
tolerances.
PE recyclates (see EN ISO 1043-1) may be composed of:
— polymeric matrix, consisting of polyethylene (PE content);
— other polymers, compatible with the polymeric matrix;
— fillers, pigments and other additives.
— impurities or contamination in a quantity which do not compromise the workability characteristics
of PE recyclates;
The characteristics of PE recyclates, which shall be determined for every batch (see ISO 3534-2) of
recyclate, are given in Table 1, and are divided into two types:
a) required characteristics, needed to define PE recyclates in general, and required for all recyclates;
b) optional characteristics needed to define PE recyclates according to customer specifications and
applications.
NOTE Polyethylene plastics waste originates from different types or grades of PE containing additives to
modify characteristics. Polyethylene is generally classified as PE-HD (high density polyethylene), PE-LD (low
density polyethylene), PE-LLD (linear low-density polyethylene) and others of less common use. The properties and
performance of recyclates derived from such wastes can depend on the type or relative proportions of blends of PE,
but it is not in the scope of this document to investigate such relations.
These characteristics shall be assessed
...