The following information was provided by RecyClass – who are in charge of the „Design for Recycling“ Guidelines.

They recently contacted 17 different recyclers of HDPE and asked them differnt questions to get a deeper understanding on which processes are established in HDPE recycling facilities.

What is HDPE exactly?

High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) is a thermoplastic polymer. As one of the most versatile plastic materials around, HDPE plastic is used in a wide variety of applications. For example as a hard plastic in many plastic products in our everyday lives, such as plastic lids for tetra packs and beverage bottles, as containers for shampoo and detergent, or as a material for rain barrels, canisters, or yogurt cups.

The following charts reflect the answers of the recyclers that were asked and give you a better understanding oft he different process steps. It is important to know that HDPE packaging is not recycled back into food grade quality (at least not in most cases).