With growing pressure to conserve resources and reduce environmental impacts, recycling and the use of secondary raw materials have become increasingly important for environmental protection and resource conservation. Plastics are particularly relevant in this context: their production consumes substantial resources and contributes to environmental impacts, while plastic waste is a major source of environmental pollution.

Environmental labels such as the Blue Angel, the German Government's ecolabel, promote plastics recycling and the use of recyclates through specific requirements set out in their award criteria, which are developed by the German Environment Agency (UBA). Reliable methods are needed to verify compliance with these criteria. As there is no recognised chemical or physical method that can precisely determine recycled content and recyclate properties in plastic products, third-party certification is generally used as a means of verification. Certification schemes can provide such assurance by establishing requirements for traceability along the value chain and independently verifying recycled content claims.

A wide range of certification schemes cover different aspects of plastics recycling and can therefore serve different verification purposes. Selecting an appropriate scheme requires a clear understanding of what is to be verified and which requirements the respective scheme applies. The trustworthiness and reliability of certification bodies, the quality of auditing procedures and robust control mechanisms are also important. These factors affect the credibility of certificates and, where such certificates are accepted as evidence, ultimately support the credibility of ecolabels such as the Blue Angel.

The project conducted a comprehensive review, analysis and evaluation of certification schemes for recycled plastics. In total, 34 certification schemes operated by organisations based in Germany, elsewhere in Europe and beyond Europe were identified, ten of which were selected for in-depth analysis. The project aimed to provide a structured comparison of the schemes and to show which aspects of the recycled plastics value chain they cover. The analysis examined, among other aspects, traceability of recyclate origin, environmental requirements, auditing and control procedures, and organisational requirements. A complementary review of publicly available information investigated whether there was evidence of weaknesses or risks associated with the practical implementation of the schemes.

The project produced an overview that allows the certification schemes examined to be compared using a consistent set of criteria. At the same time, the findings show substantial differences in their objectives, scope and requirements. The suitability of a certification scheme therefore needs to be assessed in relation to the specific verification purpose. The analysis reflects the information available at the time of data collection in October 2024 and should therefore be regarded as a snapshot.

Ecologic Institute coordinated the project and was substantially involved in all work packages.