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    PPWR recyclability grade checker

    Tick the design characteristics that apply to one packaging unit and get an indicative design-for-recycling grade, plus the specific change that lifts it. Assess one pack at a time, because PPWR grading is applied per packaging unit rather than per portfolio.

    Which of these apply to the pack?

    Grade A100 / 100

    Design for recycling is not a constraint on this pack.

    Indicative only. Scheme rates change annually and classifications vary by jurisdiction, so use this for planning rather than for filing.

    How PPWR recyclability grading works

    PPWR converts design for recycling from guidance into law. Packaging is assessed against design-for-recycling criteria and assigned a performance grade, and packaging below the threshold grade may not be placed on the EU market once the relevant date applies. That makes a poor grade a market-access problem, not only a fee problem.

    What drives a grade down

    • Material combinations that cannot be separated, which send the whole pack to residue regardless of the polymers involved.
    • Anything that hides the pack from near-infrared sorting: carbon black, metallised film, full-body sleeves.
    • Contaminants that survive reprocessing, such as non-releasable adhesives, PVC liners and mineral-filled additives.
    • Formats with no collection at scale in the target market, since recyclability is assessed against real infrastructure.

    How to use the result

    Treat the grade as a triage signal. A pack scoring in the D or E band usually has one dominant issue worth fixing first, and removing a penalty trigger typically also removes an eco-modulation penalty in national fee schedules. Model that fee effect in the eco-modulation simulator.

    Questions about this calculator

    No. It is an indicative screen based on the design characteristics that drive recyclability outcomes. Official grading follows the criteria set out in PPWR implementing acts and is assessed per packaging unit.

    Sorting and reprocessing act on the whole unit. A PVC sleeve or a carbon-black closure can send an otherwise recyclable container to residue, so the weakest component determines the outcome.

    Not necessarily. Recyclability is assessed against collection and sorting infrastructure that varies by market, which is why the same pack can grade differently in the UK RAM system and in an EU assessment.

    Remove the highest-penalty issue first, usually a non-separable laminate, a PVC component or a dark pigment. Those three account for most failing grades.

    Related resources

    Run this on your real portfolio

    Packgine calculates fees from your actual component-level packaging data across every market you sell into.