Packaging should be designed to be compatible with available recycling systems. Labels, seals, tapes, closures, and so on, should also be compatible with common recycled material processing systems.
A material should be considered recyclable only if there is an economically viable and widely available system for collecting, processing, and marketing the material.
Use the maximum feasible amount of postconsumer, recycled material in the packaging.
A package that is designed to be both recycled and composed of recycled material is most preferable. However, regulatory restrictions (such as Rule 41 of the Uniform Freight Classification or Food and Drug Administration regulations) or structural considerations may limit the use of recycled content.
To the greatest extent possible, recycled content should be composed of post-consumer, recycled, waste material, that is, material which has served its intended end use and has been discarded by a business or consumer.