Find out about.......Plastics, Polymer Engineering and Leadership: Plastic Part Marking Codes: ISO 11469 vs. ISO 16396

Hello and welcome to a new blog post. Today we discuss the differences between ISO 11469 and ISO 16396 used for plastics identification as well as for part marking and how each of them is used in the plastics industry.

Check out this post which provides you with an overview on the major part marking codes and standards (incl. miniguide for downloading).

Download the miniguide here.

Why Plastic Part Marking Codes?

Identification of plastics products is easier with a part marking system. This allows for better decision making for:

handling plastic products,
better waste recovery
more efficient disposal.

Plastic identification and part marking with ISO 11469

ISO 11469:2016 defines a system of uniform marking of products which were made from plastics materials and it references the following standards since they are indispensable for its application:

ISO 472, Plastics — Vocabulary
ISO 1043-1, Plastics — Symbols and abbreviated terms — Part 1: Basic polymers and their special characteristics
ISO 1043-2, Plastics — Symbols and abbreviated terms — Part 2: Fillers and reinforcing materials
ISO 1043-3, Plastics — Symbols and abbreviated terms — Part 3: Plasticizers
ISO 1043-4, Plastics — Symbols and abbreviated terms — Part 4: Flame retardants

Example for marking according ISO 11469: acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymer “>ABS<”

ISO 16396-1:2022: Polyamide moulding and extrusion materials

On the other hand we have the ISO 16396 which was introduced particularly for Polyamides used in injection moulding and extrusion (PA 6, PA 66, PA 69, PA 610, PA 612, PA 11, PA 12, PA MXD6, PA 46, PA 1212, PA 4T, PA 6T and PA 9T and copolyamides of various compositions for moulding and extrusion).

The designation consists out of five data blocks:

-Data block 1: identification of the plastic by its abbreviated term (PA), and information about the chemical structure and composition

-Data block 2: position 1: Intended application and/or method of processing; positions 2 to 8: Important properties, additives and supplementary information

-Data block 3: designatory properties

-Data block 4: fillers or reinforcing materials and their nominal content

-Data block 5: contains additional information which may be added if needed

Example: PA6T/66 MH, 14-190, GF50

PA6T/66: Polyamide 6T which is a homopolymer based on terephthalic acid and Polyamide 66 which is based on hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid.
M: injection moulding;
H: heat ageing stabilized
14: viscosity number (in ml/g) > 130 but below 150;
190: tensile modulus of elasticity between 17000 MPa and 20000 MPa
GF50: wt% 50 glass fiber reinforcement

Below you find a YouTube shorts on this topic too.