1. The basic formula
Recycled content (%) = mass of post-consumer recycled plastic ÷ total mass of plastic × 100. If a 1200 g crate contains 360 g of post-consumer recycled polyolefin, its recycled content is 30%. The calculator above does this for you and compares the result against the threshold of your regulatory category.
Two details trip people up. First, only post-consumer material goes in the numerator. Second, additives, masterbatch and non-plastic fillers have to be handled consistently — if your pellet contains a mineral or metal fraction, that fraction is not plastic and must be treated coherently on both sides of the fraction.
- Work in mass, never in volume or in cost
- Exclude pre-consumer scrap from the numerator
- Document how additives and non-plastic fractions were treated
2. Plant average, not pack by pack
PPWR measures the obligation as an average across everything a manufacturing plant produces in a category over a year. That is commercially useful: a difficult reference can run a lower share if others run higher. It is also an evidentiary burden — you now need a year of reconciled data linking resin purchases, batch certificates, production output and packaging placed on the market.
The practical consequence: build the data model before 2030, not during the audit. Most converters find their weak point is not the recycled resin, it is the traceability between a delivery note and a finished pack.
- Reconcile purchased recycled tonnes against produced tonnes each year
- Keep batch certificates linked to production orders
- Homogeneous 60-tonne batches make the reconciliation far simpler
3. What is still open
The Article 7(8) delegated act will fix how content is calculated and verified, including how chemically recycled material allocated through mass balance is treated. Until it lands, the defensible position is a mechanically recycled input whose physical origin can be traced with EN 15343-style records — no allocation model to defend, no risk that a future rule changes your declared number.
The Commission has published interim guidance on applying PPWR pending that act, so the sensible stance is to build your system on physical traceability and adjust the paperwork later.
- Mass-balance allocation rules for chemical recycling remain unsettled
- Physically traceable mechanical recycling is the low-risk baseline
- Design your records so an allocation rule change does not invalidate them
4. Making the number defensible
An auditor will not accept a spreadsheet percentage. They want a chain: waste stream identified, recycler certified, batch identified, delivery matched to a production order, production output matched to packaging placed on the market.
This page is general information about EU legislation, not legal advice. Check the consolidated text of each instrument and your national transposition before you rely on a figure.
- Supplier certificate stating post-consumer origin and recycled share
- Batch-level technical datasheet with the delivery
- EN 15343-based third-party certification of the recycler
- Internal mass-balance reconciliation for the year
- EU Declaration of Conformity referencing the above
Calculation cheat sheet
| Formula | post-consumer recycled plastic mass ÷ total plastic mass × 100 |
|---|---|
| Counting unit | Mass (kg), not volume or value |
| PPWR basis | Average per plant, per calendar year |
| SUP bottles basis | Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1425 |
| Excluded from numerator | Pre-consumer / post-industrial scrap |
| Evidence | Batch certificates + reconciled annual mass balance |
| Open point | Art. 7(8) delegated act (methodology, chemical recycling) |