How do I have the recycled content of my packaging verified independently?

Through an audit of the supply chain, not through a single laboratory analysis. Recycled content cannot be reliably determined analytically on the finished part, because recycled and virgin polymer are chemically identical. What is verified is therefore the route of the material and the mass balance, back to the waste source.

What is needed for it

• Details of the product: structure, components, weights, materials used including fillers and additives
• Evidence of the recyclate origin, separated into post-consumer and post-industrial
• Incoming goods, warehouse management and batch allocation at the converter
• Material input, material output, material flows and process losses over a defined period
• A verifiable mass balance with plausibility checks

How the process runs

An enquiry is usually answered with a quotation within two to three working days. The documents are then reviewed, a qualified auditor assesses the supply chain, and an independent certification body assesses conformity to ISO/IEC 17065. Depending on the programme and the product this takes four to twelve weeks. The certificate is then published in the public database.

How to recognise usable evidence

It states the verified percentage, the recyclate type and the scope, that is which product exactly is covered. It rests on a published programme referring to DIN EN 15343 for traceability and DIN EN ISO 22095 for chain of custody. And it is verifiable by third parties, usually through a licence number.

A figure that comes only from a supplier data sheet does not meet this. It is the starting point of the assessment, not its result.