Brussels Is Asking Coca-Cola and Nestlé to Prove Recycled Content. Buyers Will Be Next

By Joe Joo · 8PCK · Shantou

PlusNews reports the European Commission is demanding clearer information on recycled plastic claims from major FMCG groups. The same question will reach every packaging supplier in the chain.

What Changed

PlusNews reports that Brussels has asked Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Danone for clearer information about their recycled plastics claims. The detail matters less than the direction: recycled content is moving from a marketing statement to a number that has to be documented.

What It Means for Buyers

For anyone buying bottles, that question travels down the supply chain quickly. A brand that has to prove its recycled content will ask its filler, and the filler will ask the bottle supplier. A supplier who cannot name the grade and the percentage becomes a risk.

Three documents settle most of it. A material declaration from the resin supplier stating the recycled percentage by grade. A batch-level statement linking the resin lot to the shipment. And, where food contact is involved, the migration or compliance documentation that covers the recycled input, not just virgin resin.

What to Ask a Supplier

The trap is mass balance. A supplier can claim “30 % recycled” on a mass-balance basis while a specific bottle contains less than that. Mass balance is a legitimate accounting method, but it is not a physical content figure, and the two are not interchangeable on a label.

For our part, we quote rPET grades with their percentage stated per order, and we say when a grade is mass-balance rather than physically recycled. If a brand needs a physical number, we quote the grade that carries it.

What It Changes in a Bottle Spec

Mass Balance Is Not Physical Content

A supplier can claim 30 % recycled on a mass-balance basis while a specific bottle contains less. Both are legitimate; they are not interchangeable on a label.

The Three Documents That Settle It

A resin declaration stating percentage by grade, a batch-level statement linking resin lot to shipment, and food-contact documentation covering the recycled input.