The reliable integration of post-industrial and post-consumer recycled plastic resins into industrial manufacturing supply chains requires a systematic and repeatable methodology for evaluating incoming batch quality that goes beyond single-parameter physical testing. This paper presents a six-component multi-criteria evaluation protocol developed through more than twenty years of commercial practice in secondary polymer distribution and formalized in USPTO Provisional Patent Application No. 64/043,650, filed April 19, 2026, titled 'System and Method for Multi-Criteria Grading, Quality Certification, and Industry-Specific Matching of Recycled Plastic Resins for Secondary Industrial Supply Chain Distribution,' by the corresponding author through Maja World Wide LLC — a secondary polymer distribution company serving 500+ industrial clients across 15 US states at volumes exceeding 3,000 metric tons per month. The six evaluation components are: (1) visual inspection for color, contamination, moisture, and odor; (2) polymer type verification through density and melt behavior testing; (3) physical form classification into pellets, regrind, bales, or rolls; (4) technical parameter testing including Melt Flow Index (MFI) per ASTM D1238 and density per ASTM D792; (5) processing behavior assessment through extrusion or injection molding simulation; and (6) supplier reliability scoring based on historical performance data. The protocol is demonstrated to identify processing defects in 12–15% of incoming batches that pass visual inspection and physical testing alone, confirming the critical contribution of processing behavior assessment as a distinct evaluation component. Supplier reliability scoring is demonstrated to provide predictive quality signals 45–90 days before explicit batch non-compliance events in approximately 67% of cases. The protocol provides a practically validated, operationally deployable quality assurance framework for secondary polymer distributors seeking to improve industrial buyer confidence and recycled resin adoption rates in support of US circular economy objectives.
Fernado Jasso Palacio (Wed,) studied this question.