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Urgent Acceleration! State Council Oversees National Standard: PET and HDPE "Plastics—Design Guidelines for Recyclability" Requirements to Speed Up

New Observations on Waste Plastic 2025-03-28 09:44:44

To thoroughly implement the national deployment and planning for plastic pollution control, and to accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of the plastic products industry, the State Council included the "Design Guide for Plastic Recyclability and Regeneration Part 1: PET" and the "Design Guide for Plastic Recyclability and Regeneration Part 2: HDPE" as key supervised projects in March 2024.

Image source: Internet

01 State Council Supervision Accelerates Project Progress

According to the latest deployment requirements from relevant national departments, the two national standard formulation tasks for "Plastic Recyclable and Regenerative Design," originally scheduled for completion by the end of 2025, have been fully advanced.

As part of the third batch of recommended national standard plan projects in 2024, the standard development cycle has been significantly shortened from the original 18 months, and it is currently planned to be officially released in mid-2025.

The deadline is tight and the task is heavy, in order to ensure the task is completed on time and with quality, the standard development work has been significantly advanced.

Policy Window Period and Industrial Transformation Opportunities Overlap

The concept of "promoting green design and enhancing the safety and recyclability of plastic products" explicitly proposed in the 14th Five-Year Plan has been deeply rooted in people's minds.

Currently, relevant national authorities have fully initiated research on industrial resource comprehensive utilization for the "15th Five-Year Plan," with "green design" expected to become the core concept and key focus in plastic pollution management during this period.

As an important component of "green design," the research results of this standard will be directly incorporated into the national policy system, providing clear direction and regulatory basis for the development of the plastics industry.

03 Global Plastic Convention Process Countdown

Although the global plastic公约 negotiations have dragged on and failed to achieve the expected results, as the world's largest producer and consumer of plastics, our country is accelerating its efforts to tackle plastic pollution.

The experience of the international community in addressing plastic pollution demonstrates that recyclable and regenerative design is a fundamental technical approach to solving the problem of plastic pollution. Actively promoting recyclable and regenerative design not only helps China achieve substantial progress in domestic plastic pollution management but also enhances its voice and influence in the global field of plastic pollution governance, contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

The development of the two national standards is a deep coordination of policy, industry, and international trends. To ensure the high-quality and efficient completion of the formulation work for these two national standards, it is now open to the entire industry.

Scope of Solicitation: Terminal brand enterprises, plastic products enterprises, polymer enterprises, additives enterprises (inks, adhesives), recycling enterprises, environmental enterprises, government agencies, and testing institutions.

By the end of 2024, four national departments jointly issued a notice on the "Action Plan for Upgrading Standards to Lead the Optimization and Upgrade of the Raw Materials Industry (2025-2027)". The notice requires that by 2027, the standard system in the field of waste plastic will be further optimized. As an important part of the raw materials industry, the standardization construction of waste plastic is of great significance for promoting the high-quality development of the entire industry. The following 16 related standards are currently being developed, and units with interest are welcome to participate:

Serial number	Standard Plan Number	Standard Name	Pre-trial time
1	2023-0901T-HG	General Requirements for Recyclable Design of Plastic Products	April 2025
2	20241703-T-606	Design Guidelines for Recycled Plastics Part 1: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Material
3	20241696-T-606	Plastic Recyclable Regeneration Design Guide Part 2: High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Materials
4	20241693-T-606	Plastics - Regenerated plastics - Part 4: Polyolefin mixtures materials	May 2025
5	20232461-T-606	Plastic Recycled Plastic Part 10: Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT) Materials	May 2025
6	20241694-T-606	Plastics - Recycled plastics - Part 12: Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) materials	June 2025
7	20241698-T-606	Plastics - Regenerated plastics - Part 13: Polyphenylene ether (PPE) materials	June 2025
8	20241700-T-606	Plastic Recycled Plastic Products Evaluation Technical Specification Part 1: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Materials	May 2025
9	20241692-T-606	Technical Specification for Evaluation of Recycled Plastic Products - Part 2: Polystyrene (PS) Materials	May 2025
10	20241695-T-606	Plastics - Identification of components in recycled plastics - Part 1: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) materials	May 2025
11	20241701-T-606	Plastics—Identification of recycled plastics—Part 2: Polypropylene (PP) material	May 2025
12	20240594-T-606	Guidelines for Assessing Traceability and Environmental Factors of Plastic and Recycled Plastic	May 2025
13	20232459-T-606	Determination of color difference in plastics and recycled plastics	June 2025
14	2023004757	Testing and characterization of mechanical recycling of polypropylene (PP) regenerative plastic and polyethylene (PE) regenerative plastic for different plastic processing techniques	October 2025

Standard Participation Significance

Enterprise participation in the formulation of group standards, industry standards, and national standards (as a contributing unit) holds multiple strategic significances and values. It not only enhances the market competitiveness of the enterprise but also drives industry technological development and strengthens the enterprise's voice. Below is a detailed analysis:

1 Enhance corporate brand influence and credibility

1. Authority Endorsement

Participating in standard-setting indicates that a company's technology or products are recognized by the industry, making it one of the "rule makers" and significantly enhancing brand credibility. For example, Huawei's involvement in the formulation of 5G international standards has directly consolidated its position as a global leader in communications.

2. Differentiated Competitive Advantage

Standard drafting organizations can use the "Standard Drafting Unit" logo in their promotions to differentiate themselves from competitors. For example, home appliance companies participating in energy efficiency standard development can proactively align their product lines with future standards.

2 Master the industry discourse power and technical dominance

1. Impact on Technical Direction

Companies can integrate their own patents or core technologies into standards to create technical barriers. For example, Qualcomm has secured long-term patent revenues by incorporating CDMA technology into communication standards.

2. Avoid passive risks

Avoid the risk of products failing to meet standards due to changes in regulations. For example, if photovoltaic companies do not participate in international standard updates, they may face export technical barriers.

3 Market Access and Policy Benefits

Advance Compliance

Participating in standard development can anticipate regulatory requirements in advance and reduce compliance costs. For example, food companies involved in setting safety standards can optimize production processes to align with future testing standards.

2. Bidding advantages

Many government procurements or large-scale projects explicitly require compliance with national standards, making it easier for participating companies to meet the criteria. For example, rail transit equipment suppliers that have participated in the formulation of national standards have seen a significant increase in their bid-winning rates.

4 Economic Benefits and Industrial Chain Integration

1. Patent Monetization

Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) can generate continuous licensing revenue. In 2022, Huawei's SEP licensing revenue reached $560 million.

2. Supply Chain Control

Leading standards can drive the adoption of their own technology systems across the supply chain. After Tesla opened its charging interface standard, it rapidly expanded its charging network ecosystem.

5 Policy Support and Resource Allocation

Government reward

Many local governments provide financial subsidies to leading enterprises in standard-setting (for example, Shenzhen offers up to 5 million RMB as a reward to the lead entity for international standards).

2. Research projects take priority.

Enterprising companies are more likely to receive support for key research and development programs. For example, a new materials company was approved for a provincial technology center due to its involvement in national standards formulation.

6 Industry Collaboration and Long-term Development

1. Technical Exchange Platform

Establish cooperation with universities and research institutions through standard working groups, such as Alibaba Cloud participating in cloud computing standards to connect industry, academia, and research resources.

Industry Ecosystem Construction

The joint development of association standards can quickly respond to the needs of emerging fields. For example, the introduction of blockchain association standards has accelerated the commercialization of technology.

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Urgent Acceleration! State Council Oversees National Standard: PET and HDPE "Plastics—Design Guidelines for Recyclability" Requirements to Speed Up

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