ASTM International Plastics Committee Revises Resin ID Code

A revision to ASTM International’s standard for resin identification code, or RIC, (known as D7611) brings greater specificity to resin code “1.” ASTM’s plastics committee (D20) invites interested participants to join in further revisions of the standard, as code numbers and mechanisms for adding codes continue to be clarified.

Resin code “1” is an equilateral triangle with the number one inside it and the letters “PETE” or “PET” below it, an abbreviation for polyethylene terephthalate.  The revision provides greater specificity for what kinds of plastics can be labeled with this code, according to David Cornell, technical contact for a work group addressing the revision of the standard.

“This revision will help the industry understand more clearly what a product labeled Resin Code “1” means,” Cornell says.  “By so doing, it will indirectly support efforts aimed at recycling plastics such as used consumer product packaging.”

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