The PREP tool used for the Australian Recycling Label (ARL) will be adopted for Singapore’s Label for Recycling (L4R).
With packaging making up one third of Singapore’s domestic waste, and the recycling rate of plastic dropping to four per cent in the country last year due to contamination and difficulty in segregating materials, the not-for-profit L4R organisation is aiming to solve both problems with an easy-to-interpret label identical to the ARL.
“L4R researched widely for the world's best system to introduce to Singapore and decided to partner with PREP Design. Its flagship software tool called PREP will allow brand owners and manufacturers to design packaging that is truly recyclable, when sold in Singapore,” said Remi Cesaro, founder and director of L4R.
Singapore’s difficulty in segregating materials comes from a mismatch between packaging design and sorting and recycling capabilities, while contamination is linked to consumer confusion and misinterpretation of recycling labels with plastic resin identification numbers.
Anthony Peyton, PREP design director, says the L4R’s similarity to ARL will be particularly helpful to brands that sell across the Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore markets.
“PREP has become a critical asset of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) in 2018 to support the ambition to make 100% packaging recyclable by 2025 in Australia and New Zealand. Furthermore, OPRL adopted the PREP to support its members for the UK market.
“We are thrilled to now be able to work closely with L4R to help the Singapore recycling industry to increase recovery levels and decrease contamination by positively engaging Singapore’s citizens,” he said.