DEAS 1086: 2021  
ICS 83.080.01  
 
© EAC 2021                                                                                                                               First Edition 2021   
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Plastics — Codes for resin identification on plastic containers  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1086: 2021  
ii © EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 1086: 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references.  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Symbols (and abbreviated terms)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  2 
5 General r equirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
6 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  3 
7 Guidelines for coding ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  3 
7.1 General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
7.2 Identification codes, properties and application  ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  6 
 DEAS 1086: 2021  
iv © EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  
 Foreword  
Development of the East  African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when go ods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the N ational 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and i ncorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards. XXXXXX.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EASC /TC 072, [Plastics and related 
products ]. 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  DEAS 1086: 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  v 
 Introduction  
Plastic waste is one of the main components in Municipal Sol id Waste (MSW). It constitutes about 15 % to 20 
% by weight and around one -third by volume in the waste stream. Compared with other recyclable materials 
such as paper, metals and aluminium cans, the recycling and recovery rates of plastic waste in East Afr ica is  
fairly low.  
To facilitate the development of a sustainable plastic waste recycling industry appropriate to local conditions, 
measures under the Waste Reduction Framework Plan are developed to promote and support the current 
recycling industry. Recyc ling of waste materials is preferable to incinerating or landfilling because recycling 
conserves valuable resources, saves energy in the manufacturing process and extends the life of disposal 
facilities. Increased recycling is necessary because it will lea d to reduction of the solid waste stream, and 
plastics have been found to be recyclable.  
One of the barriers to increased recycling of plastics is the necessity of keeping the various types of plastics 
separate, based on the resin from which they are made , thus a need to develop a coding system that can be 
used to label plastic containers so as to identify the type of resin from which they are made. This standard 
therefore is intended to facilitate the recycling of plastic containers by requiring that thes e containers be 
labelled according to resin type.  
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1086: 2021  
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  1 
 Plastics — Codes  for resin identification on plastic  container s 
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies codes for identifying the  resin content of plastic containers used by 
the publi c and for facilitating sorting as prerequisites for successful plastic recovery and recycling.  
The codes are not intended to be a guarantee to consumers that a given item b earing the code will be readily 
accepted for recycling. Users of the codes  are encou raged to adhere to the guidelines  of this standard . 
2 Normative references.  
There are no normative references in this document.  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain te rminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp . 
3.1  
degradable  
able to undergo physical , biologicl  and chemical deco mposition in any way into component parts within three 
hundred sixty days under exposure to break down elements  
3.2  
label  
moulded, imprinted, or raised symbol on a plastic product, rigid plastic container or plastic bottle  
3.3  
container  
object such as a  box, jar, bag, or bottle including a wrapper film that is used to hold something, especially 
when its being stored, transported or wrapped  
3.4  
plastic  
synthetic material made from polymerisation of organic compounds and additives that can be mo ulded in  
many different forms for use   
3.5  
plastic product  
product made of synthetic material from polymerisation of organic compounds and additives  
3.6  
plastic container  
object made of a synthetic material that is intended for holding something   
2 © EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  
  
3.7 
recycle  
process used on waste material so that it can be used again  
4 Symbols (and abbreviated terms)  
 D    Degradable  
 HDPE    High Density Polyethylene  
 LDPE    Low Density Polyethylene  
 PETE (PET)   Polyethylene Terephthalate  
 PP    Polypropylene  
 PS    Polystyrene  
 V (PVC)    Vinyl  (Polyvinyl Chloride ) 
 OTHER    Multilayer  
 ABS    Acrylonitrile -Butadiene -Styrene  
 PC    Polycarbonate  
 PMMA    poly(methyl methacrylate ) 
 PU    Polyurethane  
NOTE  Other is either Nylon (polyamide), ABS, PC, PMMA, PU  or phenolics . 
5 General requirements  
5.1 The code shall confirm the type of resin in the products.  
5.2 The coding system shall offer a means of identifying the resin material of plastic containers used by the 
public.  
5.3 The plastic material coded shall be of the following resins:  
a) polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE);  
b) high-density polyethylene (HDPE);  
c) polyvinyl chloride (PVC or V);  
d) low-density polyethylene (LDPE);  
e) polypropylene (PP); and  
f) polystyrene (PS).   
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  3 
 5.4 Each of the resin types shall be  represented by a number under the coding system as  specified under 
6.4. 
5.5 The coding system shall include a seventh code, identified as "other" but specified. The use of this code 
indicates that the product in question is made of a resin other than the six listed above, or is made of more 
than one resin  used in combination . 
6 Labelling  
6.1 Any plastic container shall be labelled with a code identifying the appropriate resin type used to produce 
the structure of the container. The code shall consist of a number placed within three triangulated arrows and  
a letter corresponding t o the number specified in  6.4 shall be placed below the triangle of arrows as illustrate d 
in 7.2 . 
6.2 The triangulated arrows shall be equilateral, formed by three arrows with the apex of each point of the 
triangle at the midpoint of each arrow, rounded with a short radius.  
6.3 The pointer (arrowhead) of each arrow shall be at the midpoint of each side of the triangle with a short 
gap separating the pointer from the base of the adjacent arrow.  
6.4 The triangle, formed by the three a rrows curved at their midpoints, shall depict a clockwise path around 
the code number. The numbers and letters used shall be as follows:  
 1 — PETE/PET ; 
 2 — HDPE ; 
 3 — V/PVC ; 
 4 — LDPE ; 
 5 — PP; 
 6 — PS; and  
 7 — Other [specified as either Nylon (polyamide), ABS,  PC, PMMA, PU, phenolic].  
7 Guidelines for coding  
7.1 General  
The following are general guidelines for coding:  
a) The code should  be used on plastic containers and plastic products solely to identify resin material;  
b) The code should  appear on the container, a nd shall be visible ; 
c) The design of the code should  not be modified (the resin acronym in the code shall not be replaced 
and other types of chasing arrows should  not be used); and  
d) There  should  not be any recyclability or other environmental claims in close proximity to the code, 
even if such claims are properly qualified. Specifically, do not use the term "recyclable" in proximity to 
the code.   
4 © EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  
 7.2 Identification codes, properties and application  
Table 1 — Identification codes, properties and applications  
Type of plastic material  Identification code  Properties  Packaging applications  
PETE/PET   
  Clarity  
 Toughness  
 Barrier to gas and 
moisture  
 Heat resistance  
 Resistance to 
grease/oil   Water and 
beverage bottles 
and jars  
 Cooking oil bottles  
 Powder detergent 
jars  
 Oven able food 
trays  
 Vinegar bottles  
HDPE   
  Rigidity  
 Strength  
 Toughness  
 Water barrier  
 Chemica l resista nce  
 Ease of forming  
 Low cost  
 Permeable to gas  
 Natural milky white 
colour   Jerricans and 
bottles   
 Detergent s, bleach  
cosmetics, 
lubricants  and milk 
 Rigid pipe  
 Buckets, basins, 
crates  
 Crinkly shopping 
bags  
 Plastic flower pots  
 Bottle caps  
 Garbage bins  
PVC/V  
  Clarity/ transparency 
strength  
 Toughness  
 Resistance to  
lubricants  
 Can be solvent 
welded  
 Electrical insulation  
 Non flammability   Floor tiles  
 Wire and cable 
insulation  
 Garden horses  
 Electrical conducts  
 Blood bags  
 Surgical gloves  
 Medical tubing  
 Bottles for 
disinfectants  
 Shoe soles and 
uppers  
 Water pipes and 
fittings  
 Carpet backing  
 Window frames  
 Wall cladding  
 Outdoor furniture  
 Shrink wrap   
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  5 
 LDPE   
  Strength  
 Toughness  
 Ease of processing  
 Flexibility  
 Moisture barrier  
 Low melting point 
allows heat  sealing   Bags for dry 
cleaning, 
groceries, retail, 
frozen foods  
 Trash cans  
 Bread  
 Squeezable bottles  
 Polyethylene 
sheets and film  
 Wire and cable 
insulation  
PP  
  Hard but flexible  
 Resistant to heat  
 Translucent   Crisp bags  
 Drinking straws  
 Hinged lunch 
boxes  
 Margarine tubs  
 Yoghurt containers  
 Medicine bottles  
 Car battery cases  
 Brooms and 
brushes  
 Bottle caps  
PS  
  Hardness  
 Can be blown 
(expanded)   Packing pellets  
 Clear coffee/tea 
cups  
 Clam shell take 
away containers  
 Plastic cutlery  
 Video tape cases 
(CD) 
 Meat trays  
 Protective packing 
for computer s and 
electronics , 
 Egg trays  
Other   
 Not available in sufficient 
quantities for recyc ling  
  
6 © EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
[1] ISO 472:2013, Plastics — Vocabulary   
[2] ISO 1043 -1:2011, Plastics — Symbols and abbreviated terms — Part 1: Basic polymers and their 
special characteristics   
[3] ISO 1043 -2:2011,  Plastics — Symbols and abbreviated terms — Part 2: Filler and reinforcing  materials   
[4] ISO 1043 -3:2016, Plastics — Symbols and abbreviated terms — Part 3: Plasticizers  
[5] US ISO 1043 -4:1998, Plastics — Symbols and abbreviated terms — Part 4: Flame retardants  
[6] ISO 1087:2019, Terminology  work and termi nology science  — Vocabulary  
[7] ISO 11469:2016, Plastics — Generic identification and marking of plastic products  
[8] US 786:200 8, Plastics — Codes for resin identification on plastics container  
 DEAS 1086: 2021    
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved