Promoting the circular economy: Focus on RAL Quality Marks
‘Recycling and reuse must not remain a niche issue,’ emphasises RAL Managing Director Thomas Roßbach. ‘Whether it’s plastic bags, plastics, electrical appliances or building materials, quality-assured processes and products create transparency and trust. This lays the groundwork for more high-quality secondary raw materials to be returned to the production cycle.’
The RAL Quality Assurance Association for Recyclates from Household Waste Collections ensures that the use of plastics from the ‘yellow bag’ or ‘yellow bin’ is fully documented. The RAL Quality Mark %-Recycled Plastic indicate the percentage of recycled materials in packaging and products, identifying tested, resource-efficient, quality products.
The RAL Quality Assurance Association for Return Consumption is developing traditional recycling centres into modern “return consumption hubs”. The aim is to replace mere waste disposal with transparent resource management, thereby keeping valuable material flows within the cycle.
The quality and practical suitability of products made from recycled plastics, such as floor gratings, are ensured by the RAL Quality Assurance Association for Products made from Recycled Plastics. Manufacturers can demonstrate that their products combine reliable performance characteristics with a high proportion of secondary raw materials.
The RAL Quality Assurance Association for Films, Bags and Carrier Bags made from Recycled Polyethylene is working to improve recycling qualities and, as a result, to create new opportunities for products made from recycled polyethylene from household waste.
RAL Quality Marks also play an important role in the case of complex products such as refrigeration appliances: the RAL Quality Assurance Association for the Recycling of Refrigeration Appliances ensures that old appliances are properly returned to the material cycle and that environmentally harmful substances such as CFCs are disposed of correctly. This reduces climate and environmental risks, while recovering valuable metals and plastics.
The construction and road-building sectors generate large quantities of material intended for reuse. The RAL Quality Assurance Association for Demolition Work promotes quality-assured demolition, in which recyclable materials are sorted by type and sent for high-quality recycling.
The RAL Quality Assurance Association for the Processing and Storage of Reclaimed Asphalt ensures, through its Quality Mark, that reclaimed asphalt is extracted, processed and stored in such a way that the largest possible proportion can be returned to road construction. Uniform quality assurance and test specifications ensure a high degree of homogeneity in the asphalt granulate — a key requirement for reliable reuse.
The RAL Quality Assurance Association for Liquid Soil also makes an important contribution in this area: RAL-quality-assured liquid soil is produced entirely from excavated soil or recycled mineral building materials.
In recent years, numerous other RAL Quality Assurance Associations have also integrated additional requirements regarding recyclability, take-back or reuse into their Quality Assurance and Test Specifications. By doing so, they are establishing concrete, verifiable guidelines within their respective sectors for greater resource conservation and climate protection.
Further information can be found at https://www.ral.de/en/ral-quality-marks/
