Recycled plastic certifications explained: GRS, RCS, ISCC PLUS and food-contact approvals

A buyer who pays for recycled content needs evidence that the content is real — and, for food packaging, that the material is safe. A handful of standards and regulatory approvals provide that evidence. They are not interchangeable: some verify recycled content along the chain of custody, some certify a management system and some are legal authorisations for food contact.

What are GRS and RCS?

The Global Recycled Standard (GRS) and the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) are owned by Textile Exchange. Despite their textile origins, they apply to any product with recycled content, including flakes, pellets and fiber. Both verify the recycled input and track it through each company in the chain. Independent certification bodies issue scope certificates to companies and transaction certificates for individual shipments.

• RCS covers products with at least 5% recycled material and verifies recycled content and chain of custody only.
• GRS covers products with at least 20% recycled material — and at least 50% for product labelling — and adds social, environmental and chemical requirements for the processing sites.

What is ISCC PLUS used for?

ISCC PLUS certifies supply chains for circular and bio-based materials. It is widely used for mass-balance claims — for example when pyrolysis oil from plastic waste is processed together with fossil feedstock — and lets a producer allocate the recycled input to specific products under defined rules. See mechanical vs. chemical recycling.

Which ISO and EN standards come up?

• ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management) certify the management systems of a recycler or producer — not the recycled content itself.
• ISO 14021 sets rules for self-declared environmental claims, including the definitions of pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled content.
• EN 15343 covers traceability, conformity assessment and recycled content of recycled plastics, and is the basis of schemes such as EuCertPlast.

What does food contact require in the EU?

Recycled plastic intended for food contact in the EU falls under Regulation (EU) 2022/1616. Only recycled plastic made with a technology recognized as suitable can be placed on the market; the regulation recognizes post-consumer mechanical PET recycling and recycling from closed product loops, while other technologies are treated as novel and follow a separate procedure. Mechanical PET recycling processes are authorised individually after an EFSA assessment, and a Union register lists recyclers and processes. Recyclers outside the EU must meet the same requirements to supply the EU market.

And in the United States?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviews recycling processes for food-contact use through a voluntary consultation. When the agency is satisfied, it issues a letter of no objection (LNO) for the process and its conditions of use. Its guidance on recycled plastics in food packaging explains the chemistry considerations, including challenge tests with surrogate contaminants. Buyers usually ask for the LNO reference and the conditions of use that apply to the grade.

Which documents should you ask for?

1. The supplier’s scope certificate (GRS, RCS, ISCC PLUS or EuCertPlast), checked against the certification body’s public database.
2. A transaction certificate for the shipment, when the claim has to pass to your own customers.
3. For food contact: the authorisation or register reference (EU), or the LNO and conditions of use (US).
4. A certificate of analysis for the lot and a recycled-content declaration.
5. Management-system certificates (ISO 9001, ISO 14001) as supporting evidence.