prEN 15342

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-april-2024
Polimerni materiali - Reciklirani polimerni materiali - Karakterizacija recikliranega
polistirena (PS)
Plastics - Recycled plastics - Characterization of polystyrene (PS) recyclates
Kunststoffe - Kunststoff-Rezyklate - Charakterisierung von Polystyrol (PS)-Rezyklaten
Plastiques - Plastiques recyclés - Caractérisation des recyclats de polystyrène (PS)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 15342
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 83.080.20; 13.030.50 Will supersede EN 15342:2007
English Version
Plastics - Recycled plastics - Characterization of
polystyrene (PS) recyclates
Plastiques - Plastiques recyclés - Caractérisation des Kunststoffe - Kunststoff-Rezyklate - Charakterisierung
recyclats de polystyrène (PS) von Polystyrol (PS)-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 15342:2024 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 . 7
5 Characterization of PS recyclates . 8
6 Quality assurance . 11
Annex A (normative) Test Method for the determination of bulk density . 12
A.1 General. 12
A.2 Material . 13
A.3 Apparatus . 13
A.4 Preparation of test sample . 13
A.5 Procedure . 13
A.6 Expression of results . 13
A.7 Test report . 14
Bibliography . 15

European foreword
This document (prEN 15342:2024) 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 includes the following significant changes with respect to EN 15342:2007:
— Scope has been clarified;
— Normative References have been updated;
— Terms and definitions have been removed, reference to EN ISO 472 and CEN/TR 15353 remained;
— Clause 4 “Symbols and abbreviations” has been added;
— Clause 5 “Characterization of PS recyclates” and Table 1 “Characterization of PS recyclates” have
been completely revised;
— In Clause 6 “Quality assurance” requirement regarding traceability has been added;
— Annex A: Content of test report has been changed.
This standard is one part of a series of CEN publications 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 of 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.
During their life, products are temporarily out of industrial control. Consequently, at the end user stage,
it is often impossible to trace back each individual product and whether it has been used correctly
through its life cycle.
1 Scope
This document specifies the main characteristics and associated test methods for assessing of
polystyrene (PS) recyclates intended for use in the production of semi-finished/finished products.
It is intended to support parties involved in the use of PS 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 D1895, Standard Test Methods for Apparent Density, Bulk Factor, and Pourability of Plastic Materials
ASTM D1921-18, Standard Test Methods for Particle Size (Sieve Analysis) of Plastic Materials
ASTM D6980-17, Standard Test Method for Determination of Moisture in Plastics by Loss in Weight
CEN/TR 15353, Plastics - Recycled plastics - Guidelines for the development of standards for recycled
plastics
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 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 178, Plastics - Determination of flexural properties (ISO 178)
EN ISO 179-1, Plastics - Determination of Charpy impact properties - Part 1: Non-instrumented impact test
(ISO 179-1)
EN ISO 179-2, Plastics - Determination of Charpy impact properties - Part 2: Instrumented impact test (ISO
179-2)
EN ISO 180, Plastics - Determination of Izod impact strength (ISO 180)
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 1133-2, Plastics - Determination of the melt mass-flow rate (MFR) and melt volume-flow rate (MVR)
of thermoplastics - Part 2: Method for materials sensitive to time-temperature history and/or moisture (ISO
1133-2)
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 1183-1:2019, Corrected version 2019-05)
EN ISO 3451-1, Plastics - Determination of ash - Part 1: General methods (ISO 3451-1)
EN ISO 15512, Plastics - Determination of water content (ISO 15512)
ISO 3534-2, Statistics — Vocabulary and symbols — Part 2: Applied statistics
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 and the following 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/
3.1
general purpose polystyrene
GPPS
synthetic polymer made by polymerization of styrene, which is clear, hard, and brittle, and can be colored
with colorants
Note 1 to entry: Examples of products made from GPPS are protective packaging, containers, lids and trays.
3.2
high impact polystyrene
HIPS
synthetic polymer made by polymerization of styrene, where in the polymerization process, a small
amount of rubber is added and it is opaque, hard, and tough, and can be colored with colorants
Note 1 to entry: Examples of products made from HIPS are diary packaging, refrigerator liners, machine housings
and labware.
3.3
expandable polystyrene
EPS raw material
synthetic polymer made by polymerization of styrene, where in the polymerization process, a small
amount of blowing agent is added and it can be foamed to lightweight beads, blocks, shaped items
Note 1 to entry: Examples of products made from EPS raw material are thermal insulation and protective
packaging.
3.4
expanded polystyrene product insulation
EPS insulation
expanded polystyrene product, with or without rigid or flexible facings or coatings, used for the thermal
insulation of buildings
Note 1 to entry: The products are manufactured in the form of boards or rolls or other preformed ware (flat,
tapered, tongue and grooves, shiplap, profiled etc.) based on an EPS raw material.
Note 2 to entry: It may contain flame retardants, where mandated by nat
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