The European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organizations (EPRO), is inviting manufacturers of products made from recycled plastics to enter a competition. The deadline for applications is March 11, 2015.
The product needs to:
•Contain post-consumer/post-industrial recycled plastics.
•Be available to the market from 2011 or later.
•Either be a business to business product, or a product for the consumer market.
•Have been manufactured in Europe, Canada or South Africa (countries of EPRO members).
•Finalists will be announced at IdentiPlast 2015.
A panel consisting of representatives from across Europe will produce a short list of finalists.
The winner will be presented with the award at the IdentiPlast 2015 congress in Rome, April 29. Winners will also benefit from publicity via the EPRO website.
EPRO’s Co-Chairman Massimo Paravidino explains the idea behind the Best Recycled Product contest: “Plastic packaging design, improved collection schemes, advances in sorting technology together with a greater range of reprocessing opportunities and applications means that the need to send plastics to landfill is disappearing. Therefore it’s key that we ensure that the consumers and industry recognize this progression and continue to sort and collect this material for recycling. One of the most important ways of doing this is to raise the awareness of the products made from recycled plastics, in turn showcasing a wide range of recycled products, thus creating a demand and maybe an appetite for new companies to start to design and manufacture more products made from recycled plastic – promoting the cycle of plastics.”
In 2009 EPRO started to invite manufacturers of products containing recycled plastics to participate in this annual competition. Meanwhile, the competition has seen nearly 150 entries from 25 countries and witnessed an increased range of applications for recycled plastic.
The award recognizes excellence and innovation in recycled plastic products from across Europe. The aim is to raise awareness and demonstrate the potential for recycled plastics whether it is post-consumer or post-industrial to be used in different applications. The key objective for the competition is to recognize used plastics as a valuable resource, not waste.
For the first time, the award winner will receive a prize in the form of product promotion support within Europe via relevant magazines. This competition enables the industry to further demonstrate their commitment and work in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility and for the consumer to more fully understand the scope of their environmentally friendly actions.
Published in the March 2015 Edition of American Recycler News
