Certified Circular: What Is Post-Consumer Recycled Content Certification?

“Life in plastic, it’s fantastic,” said no one, ever—despite what the ’90s smash hit made us want to believe.

As the world becomes more aware of the looming plastics crisis upon the Earth, the demand for eco-friendly and sustainable solutions like recycled content certification mounts.

It turns out that more than 90% of all plastics ever created were never actually recycled into something new.

Instead, they slowly break down into microplastics, where they choke our waterways, our soil health, our wildlife, and, it turns out, our own bodies and our skies. 

A UN Global Plastics Treaty is now in the works, with 175 nations agreeing to develop a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2024. It’s a fortunate and major step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production, use, and disposal.

However, its success is not guaranteed.

The onus still largely falls on the consumer today to make a positive impact through greener choices.

Certifications for use of recycled materials can help reduce waste and conserve resources by informing consumers which items are made with some degree of pre or post-consumer recycled content.

In addition to plastics, these certifications can also ensure building materials, packaging, textiles, jewelry, metal, electronics, home goods, wood, paper and more are likewise manufactured from recycled materials.

So, what is post-consumer recycled content certification and what are the nuances?

Let’s make like a recycling center and sort through the various verification schemes meant as sustainable solutions to both pre-consumer recycled material and post-consumer waste.