Speaking the same language

The Recycled Materials Association’s (ReMA’s) ISRI Specifications are designed to facilitate the trade and use of recycled materials, including ferrous and nonferrous metals, paper, plastics, electronics, glass and more, providing a common language between buyers and sellers around the world.

“Just think about if we didn’t have them, trying to buy and sell and … make transactions,” Leonard Zeid, president of the brokerage division at Moline, Illinois-based Midland Davis Corp., said at the Paper and Plastics Recycling Conference (PPRC) in Chicago in mid-October. “They play an important role in everything we do every day.”

Zeid moderated a session at PPRC that featured Justin Jungman, account executive at Holland, Michigan-based Padnos; Krystina Smith, quality manager for recycled fiber at Atlanta-based Smurfit Westrock; and Ed Tucciarone, senior director of secondary fiber at Atlanta-based Graphic Packaging International. The group discussed the importance of the specifications, particularly in the paper recycling industry, as well as key milestones and updates and ways the specifications support industry standards and development.

What are ISRI specs?

The ISRI Specifications were established in 1914 and intended to assist ReMA members in buying and selling materials.

The specs are internationally accepted and derived from many sectors of the recycled materials industry and, according to Washington-based ReMA, are constructed to represent the quality or composition of recycled materials being bought and sold within the industry.

ReMA also reviews ISRI Specifications on an ongoing basis to ensure they meet the demands of the global marketplace.

Any individual, company or organization can propose additions, modifications or removals to the specifications, regardless of ReMA membership status.

“We have a great system and an open system for people to tell us what they think we need to do,” Zeid said of nonmembers proposing changes.

The most recent update was published this June, when the board of directors approved the addition of paper cups to the allowable commodities in the inbound residential single-stream and inbound residential dual-stream material recovery facility (MRF) specifications. It was the first fiber-related specification update since the addition of pizza boxes in 2020.

“There was a big debate about pizza boxes … [and] whether they should be included because of the food in it ... and, most recently, this last year, paper cups were added since we’ve seen a lot of paper cups in the marketplace,” Tucciarone said. “We thought that was good fiber.

“I think there were good changes that clarified a lot of things, but a lot of it came out of the fact that municipalities and the MRFs are really the predominant recycling facilities these days, and these changes were specifically made from the changes that our industry has seen over the last 20, 30 years.”

However, at the end of the day, Zeid emphasized that the specifications are merely guidelines, adding that buyers and sellers should deviate or adjust based on discussions about their materials.

“ReMA specifications also cover more than just grade definitions,” he said. “I think this is important because, if you think about your transaction between everything from the purchase order to the sales contracts, fulfillment by the seller, what does that mean? … These are all things we deal with, sometimes on a day-to-day basis, and they’re all easier to handle because we have some guidelines to look at weight discrepancies, moisture [or] content arbitration when we don’t agree on something.

“By ReMA stepping up and designing some specifications that the MRFs could then take to municipalities or into other places to say, ‘These are things that are acceptable according to the industry.’ From there, you can negotiate your own terms.”

The role of the committee

The ISRI Specifications Committee reviews requests for additions, removals or changes and makes suggestions to the ReMA board of directors. The committee is made up of Paper Stock Industries (PSI) chapter members and, periodically, ReMA puts out a call for members who want to be considered for the group.

“Joining the Specifications Committee is a valuable opportunity to directly influence the standards and practices that shape our work,” Smith said. “It’s a chance to contribute your expertise and perspective in a collaborative environment, making a tangible impact on the clarity and effectiveness of our specifications.”

“It’s very important that the committee is made up of several diversified stakeholders,” added Jungman, who currently chairs the committee. “That includes domestic and international. We have mill groups who are represented on the committee; we also have brokers, exporters [and] processors. We want diverse opinions.”

Currently, the committee has nine members, with Jungman noting it’s typically between eight and 10.

“If you get too many, you kind of have too many cooks in the kitchen,” he said. “But also, we want to have enough to have a wide viewpoint of the specifications we’re reviewing at any given time.”

To put in a request to have a specification added, removed or amended, the initial proposal must go through ReMA President Robin Wiener. An email is sufficient but must include as much detail as possible.

“We encourage you to be as specific as possible of what you’re asking because that request then makes its way down to the division—the PSI chapter, in this case—and then it goes to the specifications chairman for review,” Jungman said. “We ask that if you are going to submit [a request], be as thorough as possible.”

When the request gets to the committee, it is reviewed and any follow-up questions are submitted in writing to the party that originated the request. The party is then invited to state its case at a virtual meeting where the committee will have the opportunity to ask more questions. The proposal then goes back to the committee for a vote—if it’s accepted, it moves to the PSI board of directors, but if it’s rejected, the process ends there.

Once accepted by the PSI board, the proposal goes to the ReMA board of directors for final approval before being shared publicly.

“We want to make sure we’re communicating any and all changes to these specifications,” Jungman said. “They’re kind of the fabric of what we do in recycling. So, we want to make sure if there are any changes that they are communicated throughout the members.”

“Some of our greatest specs have come from consumers and suppliers that are generating a new type of material and want to see if it meets the specs, or if a new one might want to be designated for it,” Zeid added. “Specifications about recycled materials continue evolve and update, and we continue to update [them].”

The author is managing editor of Recycling Today and can be reached at mmcnees@gie.net.