The British Plastics Federation (BPF, London / UK; www.bpf.co.uk) has launched a new online tool which will rate plastic packaging products depending on sustainability criteria. The system, called “PackScore”, has been developed so that brands, retailers and designers can make assessments at early stages of packaging design.

Supported by Recoup (Peterborough / UK; www.recoup.org) and based on the “RecyClass” system developed by Plastics Recyclers Europe (Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) to determine recyclability – see Plasteurope.com of 07.06.2018 – PackScore allows users to answer a series of simple questions in order to receive a sustainability rating ranging from A to F. The tool also addresses features of the packaging such as lightweighting or the use of recycled content.

The tool was originally produced by Berry and subsequently developed by the BPF. The grading level is advisory and intended to be a guide during the design process. A more comprehensive tool such as RecyClass is recommended by the BPF in order to obtain an official certification of recyclability.