Validating Recycled Content: Choosing the Correct Methodology

Recycled content is material that has been recovered (reclaimed) from previously used goods and reprocessed. This reprocessed material is then made into a new final product or component for incorporation into a finished product. Two types of recycled content are most used in industry. Pre-consumer (post-industrial) recycled material (PIR) is material that has never reached the end user, having been diverted from the waste stream generated during a manufacturing process.

It is discarded material and with some additional processing it can be reused as a substitute for a raw material. Postconsumer recycled material (PCR) is material reclaimed from products, that had been used for its intended purpose, has reached the end-of-life and is no longer being used.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most recycled polymeric materials globally¹ and is most commonly used in food and beverage containers. It is also known as polyester when used in textile, accounting for 52% of total volume of fibers in 2020. Today, only ~15% of global PET textile market is represented by recycled inputs, mostly from post-consumer PET bottles.² Both beverage container and textile industries have established goals around recycled content^{3 4} driving demand for verified rPET. With a rising demand for recycled materials, there is evidence that virgin polyester is being sold with a claim of recycled PET (rPET). It is estimated that more than 50% of what is marked and sold as rPET is made from virgin polyester.⁵

UL Solutions has found that auditing the CoC to track the recycled content in PET along a supply chain is more reliable than any type of testing to validate the recycled content of a product.

References

1. OECD: Global Plastics Outlook - Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options, 2022
2. 2021 Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report - Textile Exchange
3. 2025 Recycled Polyester Challenge, First Annual Report, 2022
4. NAPCOR Report Shows US Demand for rPET Grew, as Collection Dipped, in 2020
5. Apparel Insider - 2019