China revises recommended national standard for recycling logos on product packaging 
On July 11, 2022, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released a revised version of the recommended national standard “Packaging Recycling Marking” (GB/T 18455-2022), which will come into effect on Feb. 1, 2023. This standard sets out requirements for the recycling logos displayed on recyclable packaging materials.
The revision abolishes the recycling logo for biodegradable plastic packaging while introducing new logos for glass and composite-material packaging. It also sets new requirements for the dimensions, color and position of the logos.
Main changes in the revision
- The revised standard covers glass packaging and composite-material packaging.
- The recycling logo for biodegradable plastic packaging is abolished.
- A recycling logo for glass packaging is introduced.
- Recycling logos for composite-material packaging are introduced.
- New requirements for the dimensions of the recycling logos are introduced. The dimensions are determined based on those of the products and can be scaled while keeping the same proportion. Appendix A of the standard specifies detailed dimensions.
- The following requirements for the color of recycling logos are introduced:
The color should be conspicuous and should not fade or fall off easily. A printed recycling logo should have a contrast strong enough against the color of the base material.
- The following requirements for the position of recycling logos are introduced:
A logo should be placed at a conspicuous position so that it can be recognized easily. In the case of cuboid packaging, the logo should be placed at the bottom of its front or side. In the case of cylinder packaging, the logo should be placed at the bottom of its side or on its bottom surface.
New recycling logos
The table below shows the new logos introduced by the revision:
| Glass packaging | Composite-material packaging |
|---|---|
 |
 |
The full text of the revised national standard for recycling logos (in Chinese) is available at
https://openstd.samr.gov.cn/bzgk/gb/newGbInfo?hcno=B929867D5706D2E64F91FC38E47E99kF3.
EnviX Comment
Article 12 of the Measures on the Restrictions on Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products, a set of regulations for China RoHS, sets out some requirements for the packaging of electrical and electronic products:
If manufacturers or importers of electrical and electronic products manufacture or use packaging of electrical and electronic products, they must not violate relevant compulsory standards set out by mandatory standards, laws, regulations or rules. These manufacturers and importers should use harmless, easily degradable and easily recyclable materials and comply with national standards or industry standards for packaging use.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology mentions this provision in the FAQs on the implementation of the above measures:
Article 12 of the measures stipulates that packaging of electrical and electronic products should meet relevant standards and be harmless, easily degradable and easily recyclable. It means packaging of electrical and electronic products is subject to the measures, but the rules of the concerned provision are currently just recommended rules. As the provisions of the measures on the labeling of packaging have been removed, refer to other relevant rules or national standards for the labeling of electrical and electronic product packaging.
The above-mentioned national standards for the labeling include GB/T 18455-2022 .
NOTE:
On Aug. 25, 2022, the China National Export Commodities Packaging Research Institute released an explanation document on the standard. See more details in the following:
Chinese national institute provides supplemental explanation about packaging recycling logo
