Ensure Packaging Compliance with EU PPWR

– Validate Sortability in Seconds

New EU Regulation – Time to Act

The revi­sed EU Pack­a­ging and Pack­a­ging Was­te Regu­la­ti­on (PPWR) requi­res pack­a­ging pro­du­cers and brand owners to pro­ve that their mate­ri­als actively sup­port a cir­cu­lar eco­no­my. That doesn’t just mean using recy­clable pla­s­tics — it means ensu­ring that your pack­a­ging can actual­ly be sor­ted by modern recy­cling systems.

If your pack­a­ging isn’t sor­ta­ble, it won’t be recy­cled — and that means it won’t meet PPWR requirements.

Why Sortability Matters More Than Ever

Even pack­a­ging made from wide­ly used mate­ri­als like PET or PP can be rejec­ted in opti­cal sort­ing sys­tems. Why? Becau­se com­mon design choices block near-infrared (NIR) detection:

  • Car­bon black and dark pigments
  • Metal­lic inks and deco­ra­ti­ve labels
  • Bar­ri­er lay­ers or sur­face coatings
  • Mul­ti-mate­ri­al struc­tures and films

When pack­a­ging can’t be seen by NIR sen­sors, it is remo­ved from the recy­cling stream — often desti­ned for incineration.

NGO audits and inde­pen­dent test pro­grams incre­asing­ly high­light the­se issues. Poor NIR visi­bi­li­ty affects:

  • Recy­cla­bi­li­ty scoring

  • Cus­to­mer and retail trust
  • Retail­er shelf access
  • Brand-level ESG and cir­cu­la­ri­ty metrics

The Solution: trinamiX Reflectivity Check

tri­na­miX offers a por­ta­ble, fast, and relia­ble way to vali­da­te whe­ther a pla­s­tic pack­a­ging mate­ri­al meets the mini­mum NIR reflec­ti­vi­ty thres­hold — typi­cal­ly set at 10%, in line with APR requi­re­ments (down­load APR Design Gui­de here).

No lab. No wai­ting. Just results — in seconds.

With a sin­gle scan, you instant­ly get the fol­lo­wing results:

  • Avera­ge NIR reflec­ti­vi­ty in percent
  • Flag­ged Sortable/Not sor­ta­ble accor­ding to APR requirements
  • Pack­a­ging mate­ri­al cate­go­ries (if detectable)

This enables your team to:

  • Flag and fix design flaws early
  • Back up recy­cla­bi­li­ty claims with data
  • Stream­li­ne com­pli­ance for Recy­Class or inter­nal audits
Screenshot Plastics Reflectivity App trinamiX

When to Use This Test

1. Sub­mit­ting pack­a­ging for third-par­ty evaluation
You’re pre­pa­ring a sub­mis­si­on to Recy­Class, Sus­y­check, or a retailer’s recy­cla­bi­li­ty scoring pro­gram. The tri­na­miX check gives you hard evi­dence on sortability.

2. R&D mate­ri­al test­ing and pig­ment analysis
You’re explo­ring how addi­ti­ves or film struc­tures impact detec­ta­bi­li­ty. Fast scans help you ite­ra­te and opti­mi­ze mate­ri­al choices.

3. Sus­taina­bi­li­ty or cus­to­mer reporting
You need to veri­fy and docu­ment recy­cla­bi­li­ty claims to inter­nal stake­hol­ders or cli­ents. The PDF report makes your fin­dings trans­pa­rent and credible.

Our Recommended Workflow

Begin with our mobi­le NIR spec­tro­sco­py tools:

We’ll help you inter­pret the results or test sam­ple mate­ri­als on your behalf.

Once rea­dy, sca­le up by inves­t­ing in:

Get Started Today

Let us help you make sure your pack­a­ging is tru­ly recy­clable, ful­ly com­pli­ant, and rea­dy for tomorrow’s cir­cu­lar economy.