Intertek, a leading total quality assurance provider to industries worldwide, is pleased to announce the launch of CircularAssure, an innovative programme of assurance, testing and certification services that enables companies within the plastics/polymers sector to optimize value of recycled materials whilst ensuring their quality and safety.

Across all sectors, businesses face pressures from consumers, governments, investors, and environmental bodies to reduce their environmental impact and justify their green claims.

Legislative developments including the European Green Deal, EU Directives on waste or single-use plastics, and the UK Plastics Packaging Tax are driving companies throughout the polymers/plastics value chain to rethink wasteful production and consider what happens after consumption of their products.

Companies are also looking to accelerate innovation processes which are driven by sustainability goals to achieve safe, well-performing products that are differentiated in the marketplace.

Intertek launches CircularAssure services to help companies in the polymer/plastics sector move towards a circular economy.

CircularAssure comprises a programme of assurance, testing and certification services that can be applied across the recycled plastic value chain from waste collectors and recycling companies to polymer producers and brands, enabling each stakeholder to ensure quality, safety, and optimise value of products within the plastics/polymer circular economy.

By adopting CircularAssure:

• Waste collectors and mechanical recycling companies can improve profitability of their recycled plastic product through insight-enabling testing to determine the quality of materials that have come from recycling

• Chemical recycling companies will be able to boost process efficiencies and understand the variability of materials through CircularAssure’s inline chemical analysis technology and quality control testing service

• Polymer producers will be able to assess how processable new recycled materials are through lab-scale processing and performance test programmes. Additionally, CircularAssure will help them to evaluate materials against safety and performance specifications for their intended use through regulatory-led analysis such as migration testing which is required to ensure food packaging compliance

• Brands will be able to demonstrate the levels of recycled content where the novel materials are used in products through recycled content certification

Ross McCluskey, EVP Europe & Central Asia, said, “With over 30 years of experience providing polymer industry support, we are delighted to launch CircularAssure, an innovative assurance programme for stakeholders within the plastics and polymers circular economy. It helps businesses to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, whilst ensuring their products are safe, perform well and meet regulatory requirements.”