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How is Design for Recycling (DfR) supported in SyncForce?

Design for Recycling (DfR), sometimes referred to as Design for Circularity, is not a material property but an assessment outcome based on how a packaging material is used within a specific packaging design.

The concept is grounded in ISO 18604 Packaging and the environment – Material recycling and its European equivalent EN 13430. These standards define recyclability as the ability of packaging to be recovered through material recycling, based on design, collection, sorting, recycling technology, and the existence of an end market for the recyclate.

ISO 18604 explicitly treats recyclability as an assessment procedure, not a default assumption. A material can be theoretically recyclable, but the way it is combined, coated, printed, glued, or attached to other materials can still prevent recycling in practice.

Within SyncForce, Design for Recycling is therefore implemented as a design-level gate:

  • It evaluates whether the packaging design itself avoids known recycling blockers

  • It is independent of country, collection system, or local recycling infrastructure

  • It determines whether it makes sense to continue with market-specific recyclability assessment

A positive DfR outcome means the packaging design is suitable, in principle, for material recycling. It does not imply that the packaging is recyclable in every market. Market-specific recyclability depends on local collection, sorting, and recycling systems and must be assessed separately per country or region.

This separation mirrors ISO logic and allows SyncForce to:

  • scale recyclability assessments across thousands of products and markets

  • avoid false global claims

  • keep recyclability reporting auditable and future-proof, including alignment with PPWR requirements

For this reason, Design for Recycling defaults to Unknown until actively assessed, and only a confirmed Yes allows downstream market recyclability logic and reporting.

How does this related to the PPWR Recyclability Classes?

PPWR classes A, B, C are based on a weighted recyclability performance percentage per packaging unit, not a simple Yes or No.

What PPWR means by A, B, C

In PPWR (Regulation (EU) 2025/40), packaging recyclability is expressed as performance grades:

  • Grade A: >= 95%

  • Grade B: >= 80%

  • Grade C: >= 70%

  • < 70% is considered technically non-recyclable and restricted from being placed on the market.

PPWR also states that:

  • From 2030, grading is based on design for recycling criteria (DfR).

  • From 2035, an additional factor is added: recycled at scale (RaS), with its own grading layer.