Should Steel Drums Be Used For Food Packaging Recycling Marks?

1. Packaging recycling mark standard

At present, my country has not issued a mandatory packaging recycling mark standard, but implements the recommended national standard GB/T 18455-2010 "Packaging recycling mark". The standard specifies the material identification marks and labeling requirements for recyclable packaging containers and packaging components; it is applicable to recyclable packaging containers or packaging components such as paper, plastic, aluminum, and iron. Although it is a recommended standard, it becomes a mandatory requirement after being quoted and implemented by mandatory product standards or regulations. In addition, if the company adopts the recommended product standard, and the standard also stipulates that the packaging recycling mark shall be implemented in accordance with GB/T 18455, then it is equivalent to mandatory implementation.

2. Products and specific requirements that can use the packaging recycling mark

Due to the diverse composition and components of plastic products, each type of plastic packaging has corresponding marking requirements. According to the provisions of GB/T 18455-2010, it is mainly divided into three categories: general plastic packaging, biodegradable plastic packaging and composite packaging materials. On the basis of the plastic packaging recycling mark in Figure 2, different types of plastic packaging should be further marked with material abbreviations and codes.

(1) General plastic packaging

Figure 3 shows commonly used plastic codes and abbreviations. For more plastic codes and abbreviations, the specific regulations in Appendix A of GB/T 16288-2008 shall be implemented. Figure 4 is an example of general plastic packaging recycling mark marking.