ISO/TR 16218 is the ISO technical report that describes the processes for recovering chemicals from used packaging, the route known as chemical recovery.
Published in 2013, it is one of two technical reports that sit alongside ISO 18604, the packaging standard for material recycling. ISO/TR 17098 lists what stops a pack from being recycled, and this one describes the routes that take its plastic back to chemicals.
Mechanical recycling hands you the same plastic back in a new shape. Chemical recovery hands you the chemicals that plastic was made from, so what comes out is never the thing that went in.
The key details of ISO/TR 16218
The report is short, and most of what a reader needs to place it fits in one table.
| Detail | ISO/TR 16218 |
|---|---|
| Full title | Packaging and the environment, processes for chemical recovery |
| Current edition | First edition, published in March 2013, still the only one and still listed as published |
| Document type | Technical Report, which is informative only and carries no requirements |
| Published by | ISO/TC 122 (Packaging), subcommittee SC 4 on packaging and the environment |
| Length | 11 pages, with six short clauses and six annexes |
| Family | Supports the ISO 18600 packaging and environment series |
The TR in the number matters. ISO's own foreword says a Technical Report collects state-of-the-art information and is entirely informative, so there is nothing in it to comply with and nothing to be certified against.
Clauses 1 to 6 fill three pages. Annexes A to E give one worked example per route and Annex F is a suitability checklist, so this article describes the routes and not the recipes. The abstract on ISO's page for the report shortens the number to ISO 16218.
What chemical recovery means in this report
The report gives the phrase a definition of its own. Chemical recovery means producing chemicals from used packaging, whether identical to or different from the raw materials the packaging was made from, or directly substituting used packaging for a natural resource.
The recovered chemicals can be used as they are or as ingredients in further chemical production.
The processes apply to plastic and biomass-based packaging. Plastics suit them best, and wood, paper and fibre only where they do not disturb the plant.
Two readings of one phrase
The report says the phrase can be read two ways, and it treats both as chemical recovery.
- Chemical treatment. The packaging is broken down by a chemical process and a valuable substance is recovered from it, whether the building blocks of PET, oil, gases such as hydrogen, or coke.
- Direct substitution. The packaging is not treated at all but stands in for a natural resource, and the report's example is flakes of used plastic replacing coke as the reducing agent in a blast furnace.
The comparison to hold in your head
The report uses the phrase mechanical recycling without defining it. ISO 15270, a plastics guideline the report lists among its related documents, defines mechanical recycling as processing plastics waste into secondary raw material or products without significantly changing the chemical structure of the material.
Chemical recovery is the opposite move. It changes the chemical structure on purpose, so a PET bottle does not come back as PET flake. It comes back as the monomers PET is built from, or as oil, or as gas.
Why the report counts it as material recycling
The first sentence of the report's scope says several chemical recovery processes are considered to be material recycling, and clause 6 repeats it.
That is the report's own 2013 view. ISO 18604 sets the requirements a pack has to meet to be classed as recoverable by material recycling, and this report adds that several chemical routes count as that kind of recycling.
The five routes the report catalogues
Below are the five routes the report names, with what each does to the plastic and what comes out at the end.
| Route | What happens and what comes out |
|---|---|
| Monomer recovery | The polymer is chemically broken back into its building blocks (for PET by hydrolysis, glycolysis or methanolysis), giving monomers such as DMT, BHET and ethylene glycol that can make PET again |
| Oil recovery | The plastic is broken down by heat, through pyrolysis or a catalytic reaction, and oil comes out |
| Gas recovery | The plastic is carbonised and partly burned, giving hydrogen and carbon monoxide for the chemical industry |
| Coke making | Used packaging partly replaces coal as the raw material fed into coke furnaces, giving coke, oil and gases |
| Blast furnace reduction | Flakes of used plastic replace coke in a blast furnace and supply carbon and hydrogen, so coke is saved and no chemical is handed back |
The first four are the chemical treatment reading. The fifth is direct substitution, which the report itself calls substitution of a natural resource rather than production of a chemical.
Monomer recovery gets the most detail. In 2013 industrial processes were established for PET, while for polycarbonate, polyamide, polystyrene and PLA the report recorded monomer recovery as still at the development stage. That is the 2013 position and nothing newer.
The report sets no conditions, yields or plant designs that a reader could hold anyone to.
Which packs the report says suit chemical recovery
Clause 6 turns from describing routes to matching them with packaging, and it starts from how the packaging was collected. Below are the four cases it walks through.
- Collected as a single material. The packaging is feasible for mechanical recycling, and the report says so first.
- PET bottles. Monomer recovery is also feasible, because that route gives back high-grade PET resin.
- Expanded polystyrene. The clean part can be recycled mechanically, and the contaminated part generally goes to chemical recovery.
- Collected mixed with other materials. The material can feed the chemical routes other than monomer recovery, which accept commingled or contaminated input widely, as long as it does not impede the plant.
Clause 5 adds that each route has its own limits on the materials and contamination it accepts, so an incompatible material that turns up in quantity should be removed by pre-treatment first.
Who needs to read ISO/TR 16218
The introduction says the report was written to clear up confusion, because neither laws nor the people involved had agreed definitions of the recovery options, and to help local stakeholders choose the right treatment where they are.
That puts recyclers and recovery assessors first. They decide whether a collected fraction goes down a chemical route, and Annex F gives them a suitability checklist.
For a producer or packaging team it settles what the phrase chemical recycling covers when it turns up in a supplier pitch or a recycled content claim. It does not say what you owe a scheme, which is the job of the rules below.
Where chemical recovery lands under EU packaging law
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), Regulation (EU) 2025/40, is where the question stops being academic, because it rewards recycled content and penalises packaging that does not recycle. Whether a chemical route counts turns on definitions, not on what a supplier calls it.
The word recycling excludes fuel
The regulation borrows its definition of recycling from the Waste Framework Directive and writes its own for material recycling. That is any recovery operation that reprocesses waste into materials or substances, excluding energy recovery and reprocessing into fuels or backfilling material.
Article 53 closes the same door from the other side. Material used as fuel, burned, backfilled or landfilled is not counted as recycled, so any output of the report's routes that is burned for energy is outside recycling from the start.
Recycled content has to come from post-consumer plastic waste
Article 7 sets minimum recycled content for the plastic part of packaging from 2030. Contact-sensitive PET packaging and single-use plastic beverage bottles need 30 percent, other contact-sensitive plastics 10 percent and other plastic packaging 35 percent, each an average per plant and year.
All of it must be recovered from post-consumer plastic waste collected in the Union or under equivalent rules. Monomers recovered from used PET bottles and made into PET again fit that wording, which is why the PET target is where chemical recovery gets most attention.
The counting method is not settled in the regulation itself. By 31 December 2026 the Commission has to adopt the calculation methodology, after assessing recycling technologies on output quality, energy use and emissions, and sustainability criteria for plastic recycling technologies. Neither was adopted at the time of writing.
Recyclability and fees follow the same definition
Article 6 says all packaging has to be recyclable, which starts with being designed for material recycling that yields secondary raw materials good enough to replace primary ones. From 2030 that is graded A, B or C, and packaging below C cannot be placed on the market.
Article 7 also lets extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees be modulated on recycled content, taking the recycling technology's sustainability criteria into account, so a fee may one day depend on the route.
Here is the honest split, route by route.
| The route | How the EU rules read it |
|---|---|
| Output burned for energy | Not material recycling under the definition, and not counted as recycled under Article 53 |
| Monomers or feedstock made back into plastic | Fits the wording of recycled content recovered from post-consumer plastic waste, subject to the Article 7 methodology and sustainability criteria |
| Plastic replacing coke in a blast furnace | The report calls it substitution of a natural resource rather than making a material, and the regulation leaves the ruling to the methodology |
One honest limit
The regulation names no ISO document anywhere in its text, and its operative articles never use the phrase chemical recycling. They speak of recycling technologies and the criteria those have to meet.
ISO/TR 16218 is a 2013 report with no requirements in it. Following it proves nothing to a scheme or a regulator, and it changes nothing about what a producer has to file.
ISO/TR 16218 next to ISO 18604 and ISO/TR 17098
Three documents from the same ISO subcommittee get confused with each other, and the split is clean once you see it.
| Document | What it is for |
|---|---|
| ISO 18604 | The International Standard that sets the requirements for classing packaging as recoverable by material recycling |
| ISO/TR 17098 | The technical report that lists the substances and materials that stop a pack from being recycled, keyed to ISO 18604 |
| ISO/TR 16218 | The technical report that describes the chemical routes it counts as material recycling and what each one produces |
One standard carries the rules and two reports support it. Both reports date from 2013 and both point back to ISO 18601, the umbrella standard for the series.
Two routes chemical recovery is not
ISO 18605 covers energy recovery, producing useful energy by controlled combustion. Gas recovery also partly burns the plastic, but it keeps a gas sold as a raw material. Energy recovery keeps the heat, chemical recovery keeps the chemical.
Mechanical recycling is the other neighbour. The 2008 edition of ISO 15270 calls the chemical route feedstock recycling and treats the two names as synonyms, which is why a supplier may use either. ISO 15270 is now being split into parts, one on chemical recycling.
Frequently asked questions about ISO/TR 16218
Below are the six questions producers ask most often about ISO/TR 16218.
What is ISO/TR 16218?
ISO/TR 16218 is an ISO technical report, published in 2013, that describes the processes for chemical recovery of used packaging. It defines the phrase, names five routes from monomer recovery to blast furnace reduction, and explains which packaging suits them.
Is ISO/TR 16218 a standard you can be certified to?
No. It is a Technical Report, which ISO describes as entirely informative, so it contains no requirements and there is nothing to conform to or be audited against. Among the standards these pages cover, only ISO 14001 is certifiable.
What is the difference between chemical recovery and mechanical recycling?
Mechanical recycling processes plastic waste into new material without significantly changing its chemical structure, so PET comes back as PET. Chemical recovery changes the structure on purpose and hands back the chemicals the plastic was made from, such as monomers, oil or gas.
Does chemical recovery count as recycling under the PPWR?
Only partly. Output burned for energy is excluded from material recycling and not counted as recycled. Monomers or feedstock made back into plastic fit the wording of recycled content from post-consumer plastic waste, subject to the methodology due by 31 December 2026.
Which packaging materials does ISO/TR 16218 cover?
Plastic packaging first, which the report says suits the processes best. Biomass-based packaging such as wood, paper and fibre can be fed in where it does not disturb the plant, and the routes also take other material of the same type.
What edition of ISO/TR 16218 is current?
The first edition, published in March 2013, is the only one, and its status on ISO's catalogue is published. Everything in it describes the chemical recovery routes as they stood in 2013, including which monomer processes were still at the development stage then.
