PCR Resin (Post-Consumer Recycled Resin)

PCR resin starts as plastic packaging or products that have already served their original purpose and been collected through recycling streams, as opposed to post-industrial recycled resin, which comes from manufacturing scrap that never reached a consumer. The collected material is sorted by resin type, washed to remove contamination, ground into flake, and then melt-filtered and re-pelletized into a usable resin, which can then be blended with virgin resin during extrusion to produce new film containing a defined percentage of recycled content.

PCR resin quality varies considerably depending on the source stream and the reprocessor's sorting and cleaning capability, and it generally carries some level of contamination, odor, or color compared to virgin resin, along with potentially more variable melt index and mechanical properties from lot to lot. Because of this, PCR is typically used as a percentage blend with virgin resin in a film structure, often in an internal or non-food-contact layer of a coextruded structure, rather than as 100 percent of a film, balancing sustainability goals against the performance and consistency a finished package still needs to deliver.

Demand for PCR content in flexible packaging has grown substantially as brand owners set recycled content targets and as some jurisdictions introduce minimum recycled content requirements, making PCR resin sourcing and qualification an increasingly important part of film formulation rather than a niche or optional consideration.

A customer asking for a film with 30 percent PCR content is typically asking for a coextruded structure where a defined percentage of recycled resin is blended into one or more internal layers, while virgin resin is still used where food contact or top-tier performance properties are required.

PCR resin is sometimes assumed to be a simple drop-in replacement for virgin resin at any percentage, but because PCR can carry more variability in melt index, color, and contamination from lot to lot, increasing PCR content in a structure often requires adjustments to processing conditions or the surrounding virgin layers to maintain consistent film performance and appearance.