Interseroh ‘Made for Recycling’ procedure celebrates three-year anniversary

Interseroh, a sustainability service provider based in Cologne, Germany, and part of Alba Group of companies, has announced it is celebrating the three-year anniversary of its “Made for Recycling” assessment procedure, which launched in June 2018.

“The packaging design of the future is a closed-loop design which is focused on conserving raw materials and protecting the climate right from the start,” says Markus Müller-Drexel, managing director of Interseroh Dienstleistungs GmbH. “The success of ‘Made for Recycling’ shows we are heading in the right direction: we are accompanying our customers on their journey to greater sustainability and developing solutions with them for an effective closed-loop economy.”

According to a news release from Interseroh, recycling specialists at Interseroh have supported brand and packaging manufacturers throughout packaging optimization processes and carried out 1,600 analyses the past three years. Interseroh ensures each piece of sampling packaging is subjected to a detailed assessment and is checked for its materials and machine sorting capability. Interseroh was awarded international accreditation—ISO/IEC 17025:2017—in March 2020, making it the only research facility in the European Union to specialize on the development and analysis of recycled plastics.

The “Made for Recycling” standard is based on a scientific method of assessment, which was developed with the bifa environmental institute and has been confirmed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV.

Packaging that passes Interseroh’s assessment is able to carry the “Made for Recycling” seal if it scores at least 18 out of 20 points. The certificate is valid for two years, subsequent to which recertification is required. Interseroh reports that many of its first customers have already recertified their packaging products.

“We want to build on this platform further and make it more accessible to international companies, for instance,” Müller-Drexel adds. “By integrating it into our Interseroh+ offering, our customers will also be able to benefit from additional sustainable competitive advantages in the future.”

Interseroh’s new dual system, which begins operations in 2022, stands for the complete recyclable loop in the area of packaging.

Additionally, Interseroh provides access to recycling raw materials, which gives companies planning security regarding the use of recyclables.