SGS green marks Series | How much recycled content is in your product?

Recycling and the Circular Economy

The old economic model of manufacture, use, and discard is extremely wasteful and bad for the environment. Many countries are therefore looking to replace this linear model with a closed-loop system that sees the input of virgin materials being replaced with recycled materials. Using the EU maxim requires a greater focus on reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products.  In an era where sustainable practices are not just appreciated, but expected, it is crucial to understand how much recycled content is present in the products we consume.

What can be recycled?

The simple answer is that most consumer products – textiles, cans, bottles, electrical and electronic (EE) equipment, food contact materials, etc. With the planet using unsustainable amounts of raw materials to create the consumer products we need in our modern lives, it is therefore more sensible to repurpose pre-used materials, rather than send them to the landfill or incinerator.

ISO 14021:2016 for self-declared environmental claims, defines recycled material as being reprocessed from pre-consumer and post-consumer reclaimed materials utilizing a manufacturing process and then made into a final product or component. Pre-consumer materials are those that are diverted from the waste stream during the manufacturing process. Post-consumer materials are those generated by households, or by commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities in their role as end-users, that can no longer be used for their intended purpose – e.g. drinks cans, cardboard packaging, glass bottles, and clothing. 

Benefits of recycling

There are many advantages to recycling. Most obvious is the conservation of our natural resources, saving trees and forests by recycling paper and wood, fossil fuel hydrocarbons by recycling plastics and sand deposits, and metal reserves by recycling glass and metals. In turn, this also protects the environment from the harmful damage committed during collection and extraction. The environment is further protected by the fact that waste does not just end up in landfills or polluting coastlines. 

Recycling can also be more energy efficient. For example, 95% less energy is used when making new aluminum products from recycled cans and foil, and 40% less energy is used when making paper from pulped recycled paper. Less energy use means lower carbon emissions and since the materials are not sent to landfills, there is also a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. 

Drivers for recycled content 

The circular economy is a major driver in demand for recycled content, but it is not the only one. Consumers and brands are increasingly looking for evidence of sustainability in the products they buy, leading to more manufacturers making claims about recycled content. A recycled content claim will build its reputation, demonstrate leadership in sustainability, provide market differentiation, and enable commercial advantage. Companies around the world are now making pledges such as 30% or 50% use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) content by 2025.  Public commitments like these mean suppliers need to be able to prove the validity of their environmental attribute claims, or there is a risk of reputational damage.

At the same time, the use of recycled content is now being mandated in some regions. For example, the US state of Washington’s plastics law, Chapter 70A.245 RCW requires producers of plastic trash bags, beverage bottles, and household cleaning and personal care products to include a minimum amount of recycled content in their products.  In California, Assembly Bill 793 establishes recycled content standards for plastic drink containers, starting with 15% by January 1, 2022, and moving incrementally to 50% by January 1, 2030. 

Verifying recycled content claims

SGS recycled content claim verification and certification helps businesses demonstrate the validity of their environmental attribute claim. It is available for a wide variety of materials and end products, for example:

• Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from bottles for softline products
• Recycled materials for EE products
• Recycled materials for food contact products
• Recycled materials for hardline products

Certification is based on ISO 14021 and includes an onsite audit, document review, and testing. Which chemical tests are performed depends on the relevant international standard. To verify the quality of recycled PET (rPET) from PET bottles, we use the test method specified in our proprietary testing protocol. 

Products must contain a minimum of 5% recycled material to be certified, with certification being valid for three years. Manufacturers of certified products can display the SGS Recycled Content Green Mark. 

SGS green marks

The SGS green marks are a proven way to demonstrate the validity of environmental attribute claims to buyers. Each mark covers an individual attribute claim, such as product carbon footprint, product carbon reduced, hazardous substances assessed, recycled content, PFAS screened, biobased, PVC free, industrial compostable, and biodegradability. 

Every SGS Recycled Content Green Mark contains a variety of details, including the standard(s) against which it was evaluated,  ISO 14021, and the percentage of post-consumer recycled content, e.g. >95% post-consumer recycled content. It also carries a QR code that gives the buyer access to a database where they can confirm the veracity of the label and the claim. 

Recycled content certification and the SGS Recycled Content Green Mark are trusted, scientific ways to verify and demonstrate the sustainability of products. In sectors where sustainability is increasingly the dominant market driver, this solution is an easy and simple way to avoid greenwashing while building your brand’s reputation. 

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