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Keywords: Containers, Definitions, Pesticides, Plastic, Recycling, Safety, Storage, Surfactants

1 Purpose and scope

1.1 This Standard specifies management practices for effectiveness and safety in the handling, cleaning and recycling of used non-refillable, high density polyethylene (HDPE) containers embossed with recycling symbol #2 up to 212 L (56 gal) that originally held pesticides and pesticide-related products (defined in paragraph 2.6) labeled for agriculture, forestry, professional specialty pesticide (defined in paragraph 2.8) use, and structural pest control. Containers that originally held antimicrobial products that are subject to a tolerance or that require an exemption from a tolerance are within the scope of this Standard. Containers that originally held other antimicrobial products, veterinary products, consumer products, or consumer home and garden products are outside the scope of this Standard. Examples of HDPE containers covered by this Standard are shown in Fig. 1.

1.2 This Standard is intended to assist applicators of pesticides and pesticide-related products labeled for the uses listed in paragraph 1.1 recycling organizations; sites and facilities where containers are collected; entities that collect and granulate or otherwise reduce the volume of containers; plastic processors; manufacturers of end-use products; users of end-use products manufactured from recycled plastic; regulatory agencies; and chemical manufacturers and distributors.

1.3 This Standard specifies procedures and criteria for rinsing, preparing, inspecting and collecting containers; rejection criteria for unacceptable containers; volume reduction of, storing, and processing the plastic; transporting containers and plastic; manufacturing end-use products; determining acceptable end-use products; and recordkeeping. These procedures and criteria are intended to ensure that the plastic will be handled and utilized to manufacture appropriate end-use products as described in Section 14 in such a way that the plastic will have no unreasonable adverse effect on the environment, people handling the plastic, or users of end-use products manufactured from recycled plastic.

1.4 The specifications in this Standard do not replace, modify, or override regulations of appropriate jurisdictions.

1.5 Recordkeeping requirements are described in Sections 6, 9, 10, 12 and 13. These records shall be maintained to verify that procedures described in this Standard have been followed, to verify that the plastic is only used to manufacture acceptable end-use products, and to facilitate tracing recycled plastic back to its source. The information required shall be recorded on forms similar to the example forms provided in Figures 8-13 in normative Annex A.