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On July 11, 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and Standardized Administration of China (SAC) jointly published a revised version of National Standard “Packaging Recycling Marking” (GB/T 18455-2022), which will take effect on February 1, 2023.
The document specifies the types, basic graphics and marking requirements for packaging recycling marking. It also sets requirements for the dimension, color, number and position of the marking.
Compared with the previous version (GB/T 18455-2010), the Revised Standard expands the application scope to include glass packaging and consolidated packaging. It adds packaging recycling markings for steel, glass and consolidated materials, modifies Iron packaging recycling marking and deletes biodegradable plastic marking. In addition, specifications on the dimension, color, position of recycling marking are included in the Revised Version.
Below are examples of recycling markings stipulated in the revised standard:
1. Paper, glass and consolidated packaging
The recycling marking for paper and glass packaging products consists of basic graphics and characters. The letter “GL” in the center stands for “glass packaging”.
The consolidated packaging marking consists of basic graphics, letters and characters. The primary material refers to one or two materials with the largest proportions of the mass in the consolidated material. The letter “C” in the center stands for “consolidated packaging”, and the primary materials are marked at the bottom of the graphic. Examples of recycling markings are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Recycling marking for paper, glass and consolidated packaging
2. Plastic packaging
The recycling marking for plastic packaging products consists of basic graphics, code and abbreviation. The number in the center of the graphic is the plastic code, and the letter at the bottom stands for the abbreviation. Examples of recycling markings are shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Recycling marking for common plastic* packaging
*For other plastic packaging, code and abbreviation can be referred to GB/T 16288.
3. Metal packaging
The recycling marking for metal packaging products consists of basic graphics, letters and characters. All the letters used in the marking are chemical symbols except for the letter “ST”. Examples of recycling markings are shown in Table 3.
Table 3 Recycling marking for metal packaging
Notice:
1. Under the Revised Standard, before market launch, the suppliers shall assess whether packaging containers or packaging components can be recycled according to GB/T 16716.1 and GB/T 16716.2. When it is determined that the recycling is feasible, the recycling marking shall be marked.
2. The Standard grants a six-months transition period from July 11, 2022 to February 1, 2023. During this period, product packaging that comply with GB/T 18455-2010 or GB/T 18455-2022 are both eligible for market use.
3. The dimensions of packaging recycling marking should be in accordance with Annex A. If needed, the marking shall be enlarged or reduced in equal proportion.
Full text of the Revised National Standard is available here.
