Consumer chemicals producer Henkel (Düsseldorf / Germany; www.henkel.com) has made its packaging recyclability assessment tool publicly available on its website for free. “We want to promote open collaboration and accelerate the transition to a circular economy,” said Thorsten Leopold, head of international packaging development for home care products at Henkel. “This can only succeed if all participants along the value chain cooperate – especially with clear definitions and consistent evaluations.”

“EasyD4R” software, which is available at www.henkel.com/easyd4r, evaluates the recyclability of packaging based on its composition and the individual weight proportions of the respective components such as basic materials, closures, labels or colours. It stores information on all the materials and their suitability for identification during sorting and for processing during recycling. Using a traffic light system, the tool gives information on the recyclability of each design as a percentage and the material combinations that can be optimised for recycling.

Used throughout Henkel, EasyD4R is based on public and recognised criteria catalogues, such as those from Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu). Henkel said the goal of the software is to quickly and accurately assess the recyclability of packaging during the early stages of product development.

The company added that the tool has been tested independently and found to work “very well” by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (Umsicht, Oberhausen / Germany; www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de). Scientists here analysed the software and its results and compared them with national and international standards.

Henkel has already been sharing EasyD4R on request since the beginning of 2019. It has also presented the tool to the 32 members of the “Rezyklat-Forum”, initiated by German drugstore dm-drogerie markt (Karlsruhe; www.dm.de), which has now established the software as a standard for all of its suppliers.

As part of its strategy, Henkel has set itself the goal to make all packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.