Are you required to use recycled content? Comply without changing your process

1. EN 15343: the methodology underneath everything

EN 15343 covers plastics recycling traceability, conformity assessment and the calculation of recycled content. It is not a certificate you buy; it is the method an auditor applies. When a scheme states a recycled percentage, EN 15343 is usually how that percentage was derived, which is why customers increasingly ask for it by name.

• Defines how recycled input is traced and how the share is calculated
• Basis for third-party recycler certification
• Ask suppliers whether their percentage is EN 15343-based

2. EuCertPlast and RecyClass: proving mechanical recycling

Both are European audit schemes aimed at mechanical recyclers. They verify the origin and type of the waste input, the chain of custody through the plant and the resulting recycled content. For a converter buying mechanically recycled polyolefin, a certificate from either is the practical evidence that the post-consumer claim is real.

RecyClass additionally runs recyclability evaluations of packaging designs, which is a different question from recycled content — do not confuse the two when a customer cites 'RecyClass'.

• Verify origin, sector and type of waste input
• Certify the recycled percentage and chain of custody
• RecyClass also covers design-for-recycling, a separate topic

3. ISCC PLUS: useful, but a different claim

ISCC PLUS certifies a mass-balance chain of custody. It is the dominant scheme for chemically recycled content, where recycled feedstock is mixed with fossil feedstock in a cracker and the recycled attribute is allocated to a share of the output. The material in your hopper may contain no physically recycled molecules; the certificate says a corresponding amount entered the system.

That is a legitimate model, but the EU has not settled how allocation is treated for Article 7 purposes, so a mass-balance certificate carries regulatory risk that a physical certificate does not.

• Allocation-based, not physical presence
• Standard route for pyrolysis-based chemical recycling
• Article 7(8) allocation treatment still unresolved

4. What PolyAl brings to your file

PolyAl is mechanically recycled and physically traceable, and each batch is produced following UNE 53925:2026 — the Spanish standard specific to recycled PolyAl from beverage cartons — with cleaning-chemical resistance tested to UNE 56875:2021. Batches are homogeneous at 60 tonnes, so a certificate of analysis maps cleanly onto a production period instead of a jumble of small lots.

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.

• Each batch produced following UNE 53925:2026
• Physical traceability from carton collection to pellet
• Technical datasheet with polymer and non-polymer split
• EUR.1 preferential EU origin documentation