Businessman Mark Jankovich, who runs eco-cleaning product company Delphis Eco, has helped create the rating scheme.
He says: ““Having a rating which shows the amount of recycled plastic content in the packaging we buy will instantly give caterers, retailers and consumers the power to vote with their wallets and chose packaging that is fundamentally diverting plastic from landfill.
“The RPR will enable everyone to see, at a glance, the exact plastic credentials of products they are purchasing.
“It will enable us to take back control of what plastic actually gets recycled, versus what gets dumped into the oceans.
“Currently there is total confusion amongst operators and consumers with over 28 different marks on what is, and what is not, recyclable.
“And, a total breakdown in trust in what is segregated at home for recycling yet gets chucked into the same dump truck and, we now know, lands up in a foreign land and most likely the sea.”
The launch of the new rating scheme at the House of Commons was told that the latest research shows that 79% of people support clearer labelling of plastic packaging to help them determine its impact on the environment and allow them to vote with their pockets when it comes to purchasing behaviour.
Adds Jankovich: “This rating scheme took over six years to perfect, but if we really want to try save our planet we need to collaborate with other businesses as fast as possible and ask caterers, retailers and consumers to insist that they will only buy products which have packaging made from recycled plastic content.
“The overall aim of the campaign is to go from 28 possible options to just one industry standard, the Recycled Plastic Rating which consumers need to look out for when buying goods.”