PREP Design was founded in 2017. Between 2018 and April 2023, PREP was available to OPRL Members. PREP is used at the design stage of packaging (for all materials) to ensure it is recyclable in the UK market.
It is appreciated there are many variable factors across the UK recycling market, but PREP uniquely simulates the journey of packaging from collection, sorting, and down-stream reprocessors.
A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), made up of experts from across the supply chain, was formed by OPRL in 2020 to ensure the PREP settings were aligned with the OPRL Label Guidelines.
Uniquely, PREP provides immediate feedback to the designer to explain why an item of packaging is not recyclable so changes can be made before going to market.
The latest version of PREP includes new features, including:
- A more granular evaluation framework that considers the bonding of composite materials
- PREP Data Sharing module to receive projects from suppliers;
- Middleware to allow for CSV data uploads and API links; and
- EPR module, which allows users to estimate their future liabilities using eco-modulation fees.
A gold standard for the UK market that meets the ISO14021 standard; let’s help the recyclers receive a cleaner stream to accelerate the market for recycled content.