According to a panel of providers and early adopters of PCR-usage certifications, third party-certified label claims describing a package's recycled content profile are a means of assurance to the public. Certifications, they say, give consumers confidence that products and packaging labeled as recycled plastic are derived from a circular method. But understanding how certification works, and how converters and brands are audited for adherence, is key to developing real credibility throughout the value chain. That's especially true a little upstream, at the brand owner and converter level, long before a consumer gets his or her hands on a pack.
Two certifiers in particular--the ISCC PLUS certification guideline and SCS Global Services with expertise in chain-of-custody certifications among many others--were on hand to explain the value, alongside certification participants Berry Global and SEE (Sealed Air). They described an often skeptical CPG landscape that's slowly increasing adoption with education and better understanding of what makes certification schemes tick.
