Can PolyAl generate carbon credits? Voluntary market, methodologies and pitfalls

"Can we sell carbon credits for our recycled-content pallets?" is one of the most frequent procurement questions we get. The honest answer is: mostly no, but the avoided emissions are still real and reportable.

What carbon credits actually are

A carbon credit is a verified, third-party-issued certificate that represents 1 tonne of CO₂ removed from the atmosphere or avoided versus a documented baseline. Standards: Verra (VCS), Gold Standard, Plan Vivo, Puro.earth, ICVCM.

Why most recycled-content products don't qualify

• Additionality: the project must not happen without the carbon revenue. Most PolyAl recycling already has a positive business case from material sales — additionality is hard to demonstrate.
• Baseline: the baseline must be clear, conservative and verifiable. For waste streams, baselines are contested.
• Permanence: the carbon must stay out of the atmosphere for 100+ years. Recycled plastics may be incinerated at end-of-life.
• Avoiding double counting: if a buyer reports the avoided emissions in Scope 3, those reductions cannot be sold as credits.

What does qualify (sometimes)

• Avoided landfill methane for organic waste streams (not applicable to PolyAl)
• Avoided incineration of plastics in regions with low alternative recycling infrastructure (a few methodologies allow this for specific projects)
• Chemical recycling of mixed waste plastics with verifiable baselines

What is happening in practice

• Verra approved a methodology for plastic waste reduction in 2023 (VM0051) — limited scope, mostly for collection projects in low-income countries.
• Some PolyAl operators are exploring "plastic credits" (different from carbon credits) under standards like Verra Plastic Waste Reduction Standard.

What buyers should do today

• Stop chasing carbon credits for recycled-content procurement. The accounting risk is high and the credibility is low.
• Do report the avoided emissions in Scope 3 Category 1: this is real, defensible and accepted by CDP, CSRD, SBTi.
• Use the per-batch CoA from your supplier as primary evidence.

Bottom line

PolyAl saves ~1.0–1.4 t CO₂e per tonne replacing virgin HDPE. Book it in your Scope 3 inventory; don't try to monetise it as a tradeable credit.