Build a package component by component and see how it scores against APR and How2Recycle recyclability logic, plus where it lands in each active U.S. EPR state. California's determination is read from the SB 54 CMC list and Oregon from its statewide collection list. The other active states have not finalized material-level determinations, so the rater says so. This is a planning estimate, not a compliance or on-pack-claim determination.
Score the package as sold. If the consumer discards the pump attached, it is part of the package. Mark a component consumer-separable only if separation is realistic.
Every component is tested on its base material stream, NIR detectability (carbon black is invisible to sorters), size (items under about 2 inches in two dimensions fall through MRF screens), separability of labels, closures, and pumps, and contamination from barriers, metal parts, or PVC. A disqualifying feature on the primary component, or a non-separable contaminating component (PVC, PETG, multi-material laminate, or a carbon-black sleeve), caps the whole package, because one such feature is enough to send the assembly to residue at the sort. A component that is genuinely consumer-separable is judged on its own, but its weight still counts against the package's recyclable-weight share.
The composite score weights four things: the primary component's material stream (35 percent), the package's APR status (25 percent), the count of flagged detractors (20 percent), and the effective recyclable weight share (20 percent; fully recyclable weight counts in full, conditional check-locally or drop-off weight counts at half, non-recyclable weight counts zero). Two caps keep the score honest: a package with a disqualifier cannot score above 40, and a package with more than 30 percent of its weight in non-recyclable components cannot score above 55, so a good primary material cannot mask non-recyclable components.
Metal decoration is treated by amount and type, not as a yes or no. Per APR, solid metal foil generally renders a package non-recyclable, because metal detectors in the sort reject it. Non-solid metallic decoration, meaning metallic ink and metallized transfer, can be recyclable if its metal content is a spherical equivalent of 12 mm or less, or 16 mm for PET containers; above that it moves to Requires Testing. Separately, a label or sleeve covering more than 75 percent of the container surface (55 percent for containers of 550 ml or less) interferes with optical sortation. These thresholds come from APR program guidance (Nance, APR, 2025) and the primary APR resource RES-SORT-03b; the rater treats them as signaled pending the primary document.
Recyclable weight share is the share of package weight in components that fully recycle. It drives the score alongside the primary component's APR status, its predicted How2Recycle rating, and the count of detractors. The state panel then maps the primary material to each state's determination: California from the SB 54 CMC list, Oregon from its Uniform Statewide Collection List, and the remaining active states shown as pending with the national APR read as guidance.
What did the rater get wrong, and what is missing? Wrong verdicts, absent materials or formats, confusing outputs, feature ideas: all of it helps.
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