Circularity Streams - TX
Circularity Streams
Circularity Streams describe the pathways through which packaging and products move after use, from collection to sorting and recycling (and potentially reuse or recovery).
Each Circularity Stream represents a stage in the circular flow of materials and defines the interfaces between collection systems, sorting operations, and recycling processes within a given market.
Circularity Streams are used in the IMDE Information Model to harmonize how materials are captured, separated, and re-entered into the economy. They provide a consistent taxonomy across countries, enabling alignment with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), recyclability assessments, and lifecycle reporting.
Sub-Streams
Collection Stream
The Collection Stream represents what citizens, businesses, or organizations place in the same collection bin or bag for waste and recycling purposes within a specific market.
It reflects the front-end collection system used in that country or region (for example, PMD in the Netherlands, Leichtverpackungen in Germany, or Kerbside Plastic Packaging in the UK).
A Collection Stream is the starting point for the circularity process and determines which Sorting Streams the collected materials will later be separated into.
Sorting Stream
The Sorting Stream represents the output fraction produced by a sorting or separation facility from a given Collection Stream.
It defines the material-specific monostreams that are ready for recycling, such as Rigid PET, Rigid PP, Rigid HDPE, or Flexible PE/PP (polyolefin film).
Sorting Streams are aligned with the target material families used in recyclability assessments (for example, Verpact NL, OPRL UK, CITEO FR). In the IMDE model, each TAU (Throw-Away Unit) is assigned to a target Sorting Stream based on its composition, enabling recyclability scoring and EPR fee differentiation.
Recycling Stream
The Recycling Stream represents the material fraction that enters a recycling or reprocessing facility as a consistent feedstock.
It defines the output of the sorting process that is actually recycled into secondary raw material, such as rPET-bottle-grade, rHDPE-natural, rPP, or PO-flex.
Each Recycling Stream is linked to one or more Sorting Streams, as several sorting outputs can feed the same recycling process. Recycling Streams are essential for tracking material circularity, LCA impact (recycled content and yield), and EPR performance reporting.
Hierarchy Overview
| Level | Definition | Example (NL) |
|---|---|---|
| Collection Stream | What bin systems collect. | PMD Plastics |
| Sorting Stream | What sorting plants separate. | Rigid PET / Rigid PP / Flexible PE-PP |
| Recycling Stream | What reprocessors recycle into new raw material. | rPET-bottle / rHDPE-natural / PO-flex |
