SIST EN 18120-4:2026

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-junij-2026
Embalaža - Načrtovanje za recikliranje plastične embalaže - 4. del: Smernica za
plastenke iz polietilen tereftalata (PET-plastenke)
Packaging - Design for recycling of plastic packaging - Part 4: Guideline for PET bottles
Verpackung - Recyclingorientierte Gestaltung von Kunststoffverpackungsprodukten - Teil
4: Leitfaden und Protokolle für Flaschen aus PET
Emballages - Conception des emballages plastiques en vue de leur recyclage - Partie 4 :
Lignes directrices pour les bouteilles en PET
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 18120-4:2026
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.

EN 18120-4
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
April 2026
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 13.030.50; 55.020
English Version
Packaging - Design for recycling of plastic packaging - Part
4: Guideline for PET bottles
Emballages - Conception des emballages plastiques en Verpackung - Recyclingorientierte Gestaltung von
vue de leur recyclage - Partie 4 : Lignes directrices Kunststoffverpackungsprodukten - Teil 4: Leitfaden
pour les bouteilles en PET und Protokolle für Flaschen aus PET
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 9 February 2026.

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. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists 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.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2026 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 18120-4:2026 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 Compatibility of PET bottles with recycling . 6
4.1 General . 6
4.2 General characteristics for PET bottles . 6
4.3 Design guidelines summary table . 8
Bibliography . 20

European foreword
This document (EN 18120-4:2026) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 261 “Packaging”,
the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by October 2026, and conflicting national standards shall
be withdrawn at the latest by October 2026.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
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.
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body.
A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: 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 the United
Kingdom.
Introduction
The EN 18120 series, under the general title Packaging — Design for recycling of plastic packaging, which
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, consists of the following parts:
— Part 1: Definitions and principles for design-for-recycling of plastic packaging
— Part 3: Evaluation processes for the sortability of plastic packaging
— Part 4: Guideline for PET bottles
— Part 5: Guideline for PET rigid packaging (except bottles)
— Part 6: Guideline for PE and PP rigid packaging
— Part 7: Guideline for PE and PP flexible packaging
— Part 8: Guideline for PS and XPS rigid 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 rigid packaging
(except bottles)
— 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 rigid
packaging
— Part 15: Recyclability evaluation process for plastic packaging — Protocols for EPS packaging
Design for recycling guidelines are a common way of evaluating the compatibility with plastic-packaging
collection, sorting and recycling which enables the use of secondary raw materials that are of sufficient
quality when compared to the original material, in state-of-the-art facilities.
They provide guidance on the level of compatibility, defined as:
— green: packaging constituents and components with full compatibility with state-of-the-art
collection, sorting and recycling;
— yellow: packaging constituents and components with limited compatibility with state-of-the-art
collection, sorting and recycling;
— red: packaging constituents and components which are not compatible with state-of-the-art
collection, sorting and recycling.
The design for recycling guidelines provided in the EN 18120 series cover the design for recycling based
on the knowledge available at the time of the development of this document and are representative of the
state-of-the-art. They consider packaging waste collection, sorting and recycling, so that the recycled
plastic can substitute primary raw materials in packaging application or other applications. Compliance
with the design guidelines in the EN 18120 series does not guarantee that the recycled plastic quality will
be fit for purpose for a specific targeted end application or compliant with applicable regulations.
Packaging recyclability is the combination of design of recycling, proven collection, sorting and recycling
in practice.
1 Scope
This document covers the design of any bottle with the main body of the packaging unit predominantly
made of PET and the design of separate components predominantly made of PET, with respect to
compatibility of the design with state-of-the-art collecting, sorting and recycling processes and useability
of the recyclates in an application.
Packaging constituents and packaging components made of other materials than PET are also covered by
this document as they need to be evaluated on compatibility with PET 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.
EN 18120-1:2026, Packaging — Design for recycling of plastic packaging — Part 1: Definitions and
principles for design for recycling of plastic packaging
EuPIA Exclusion Policy for Printing Inks and Related Products. https://www.eupia.org/our-
commitment/eupia-exclusion-policy-for-printing-inks-and-related-products/
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 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 Compatibility of PET bottles with recycling
4.1 General
Generic aspects for design compatibility with recycling are covered in EN 18120-1.
4.2 General characteristics for PET bottles
PET rigid packaging is designed to be lightweight, highly functional and to provide protection for
sensitive goods. PET bottles shall be designed in a way that the recycled material can go back into the
highest possible application and can stay in the packaging loop (i.e. bottle-to-bottle).
PET bottles which are part of a deposit return system shall also follow the design and marking of such
system and shall at minima follow the guidance set forth in this document.
When it is designed for a food contact application (which is the most prominent use of PET bottles) it
should be done in a way that the recycled material can go back into food contact applications.
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 (i.e. by preventing the use of
unwanted substances).
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, industrial and others) need to be considered.
The following bottle constituents and components shall be addressed in standard design for recycling
guidelines:
— body of the packaging unit:
— material composition;
— colours/pigments;
— additives/fillers;
— barriers, barrier coating;
— direct printing;
— decoration and closures:
— labels and labelling adhesives;
— sleeves;
— closure/openings;
— seals/valves;
— tamper evidence components;
— inks, lacquers, varnishes, coating and ink binders;
— other constituents and components:
— others.
Besides the main bottle body made from PET, closures, labels and sleeves (including inks, varnishes and
adhesives) play an essential role in providing useful and legally required information to consumers such
as nutritional information, health and safety warnings, manufacturers address and recycling information
as well as barcodes and branding.
Full body sleeves, coloured bottles and/or additives and barrier layers can also be necessary to protect
the packaged product (e.g. from UV radiation or ambient light to enhance shelf life). The functions of these
mentioned additional constituents need to be considered when setting thresholds of allowed amounts
and components.
The following general principles should be followed when designing rigid PET bottles:
— transparent clear and transparent light blue PET bottles shall be preferred;
— the bottle shall be made of mono material PET unless a second material is strictly necessary for
technical reasons e.g. to avoid product waste;
— if the main bottle body needs additives or barrier layers, they shall not contaminate and/or disrupt
recycling for the intended use targeted by the design guidelines;
— the labels and sleeves shall be minimized without prejudice to useful and legally required
information to consumers and without prejudice to the functionality, be compatible with recycling
processes. The document provides guidance on partial and full coverage labels and sleeves, the
definition of “partial” and “full” are outlined in EN 18120-1:2026, 6.4, Determination of partial and
full coverage;
— adhesives shall be minimized and compatible with recycling processes;
— for sleeves, perforated solutions should be preferred to ease the removal during the collection,
sorting and recycling process and/or if needed by the consumer;
— the closure or lidding system, label and/or
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