---
title: "We claim recycled content and are asked for proof"
description: "A recycled content claim is an environmental claim under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive: it must be accurate, cover the part it names and be backed by evidence you can produce. For packaging, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 adds minimum recycled content for plastic from 2030 and a harmonised format for recycled content labels. State the share and the component precisely, and keep supplier evidence per batch."
type: "problem"
url: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/recycled-content-claim/"
markdown: "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/recycled-content-claim.md"
locale: "en"
language: "en"
updated: "2026-10-04"
author: "Conphora compliance team"
publisher: "Conphora"
source: "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02005L0029-20260927"
tags: ["PPWR", "sustainability-claims"]
license: "Free to quote with attribution and a link to the page"
---

# We claim recycled content and are asked for proof

A recycled content claim is an environmental claim under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive: it must be accurate, cover the part it names and be backed by evidence you can produce. For packaging, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 adds minimum recycled content for plastic from 2030 and a harmonised format for recycled content labels. State the share and the component precisely, and keep supplier evidence per batch.

## Why this happens

A statement that a product or its packaging contains recycled material is an environmental claim. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC defines an environmental claim as any non-mandatory message or representation, in any form, that states or implies a positive or lower impact on the environment (Article 2(o)), and treats a claim as misleading when it deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer about the main characteristics of the product, which include its composition and environmental characteristics (Article 6(1)(b)). [1]

Since 27 September 2026, one recycled content pattern is banned outright. Point 4b of Annex I forbids an environmental claim about the entire product when it concerns only a certain aspect of it. Recital 11 of Directive (EU) 2024/825 gives the example of a product marketed as 'made with recycled material' when only the packaging is made of recycled material. [1][2] Accurate claims remain possible, but they must say which part and how much, and be backed by evidence. A court or authority can require that evidence and treat the claim as inaccurate without it (Article 12). [1]

For packaging, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40, which applies from 12 August 2026 (Article 71), turns recycled content into a legal requirement for plastic. Article 7(1) requires that by 1 January 2030, or three years after the entry into force of the Commission's methodology implementing act, whichever is later, any plastic part of packaging contains minimum shares of recycled content from post-consumer plastic waste, calculated as an average per manufacturing plant and year: 30 % for contact-sensitive PET packaging, 10 % for other contact-sensitive plastic packaging, 30 % for single-use plastic beverage bottles and 35 % for other plastic packaging. Higher shares apply from 1 January 2040 (Article 7(2)). Compliance is shown in the technical information under Annex VII (Article 7(6)), and the Commission must adopt the calculation and verification methodology by 31 December 2026 (Article 7(8)). EUR-Lex lists an action before the General Court (Case T-243/25) seeking partial annulment of Article 7(1), (2) and (5)(b); such an action does not suspend the Article. [3]

The PPWR also regulates recycled content labels. Where packaging covered by Article 7 carries a label on its share of recycled content from 12 August 2028, or 24 months after the relevant implementing act, whichever is later, the label must follow the Commission's specifications and the Article 7(8) methodology (Article 12(4)). For online sales, the label information must also be available before purchase (Article 12(5)), and no operator may display marks that are likely to mislead or confuse about the packaging's sustainability characteristics (Article 12(8)). [3]

When the minimum becomes law, it stops being a selling point. Presenting a requirement imposed by law on all products in the category as a distinctive feature of the offer is unfair in all circumstances (UCPD Annex I point 10a). [1]

## How to solve it

1. **Pin down what the claim refers to** Does it concern the product, the packaging or one component? Is the percentage by weight of the whole item or of one material? A claim that suggests the whole product is recycled when only the packaging is, is banned in all circumstances.
2. **Trace the evidence to the material** Ask suppliers for documents that link the recycled share to your batches: material declarations, recycler certificates and production records. A general statement that a supplier 'uses recycled material' does not show the share in your product.
3. **Rewrite the claim to match the evidence** State the share, the material and the part, for example 'bottle body made with 50 % recycled PET'. Specify pre- or post-consumer only if your evidence shows it. Remove claims you cannot back for every batch on sale.
4. **For plastic packaging, prepare for the PPWR minimums** From 1 January 2030, or three years after the entry into force of the Commission's methodology implementing act, whichever is later, plastic parts of packaging must contain set minimum shares of post-consumer recycled content, calculated per manufacturing plant and year. Manufacturers or importers show compliance in the packaging's technical information.
5. **Align packaging labels with the harmonised format** From 12 August 2028, or 24 months after the implementing act, whichever is later, a label on packaging that states the share of recycled content must follow the Commission's specifications and the Article 7(8) methodology. Until then, any recycled content label must not mislead.

## What you need to show

- **Claim wording per product and channel, with the part and share it covers** — Marketing, with product management (Directive 2005/29/EC Annex I point 4b)
- **Supplier and recycler evidence linking the recycled share to your batches** — Material suppliers and recyclers (Directive 2005/29/EC Article 12)
- **Recycled content data in the packaging technical documentation** — The packaging manufacturer or importer (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 7(6) and Annex VII)

## If you do nothing

- **Part-for-whole claims are banned** — Making an environmental claim about the entire product when it concerns only a certain aspect is unfair in all circumstances. The directive's own example is 'made with recycled material' when only the packaging is recycled (Directive 2005/29/EC Annex I point 4b; Directive (EU) 2024/825 recital 11).
- **Missing evidence means an inaccurate claim** — A court or authority may require evidence of a factual claim and consider it inaccurate if the evidence is not furnished or is insufficient (Directive 2005/29/EC Article 12).
- **Misleading packaging marks are prohibited** — Economic operators may not provide or display labels, marks, symbols or inscriptions likely to mislead or confuse consumers about the sustainability requirements, other characteristics or waste management options of packaging covered by harmonised labelling (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 12(8)).

## Questions

### Which minimum shares apply to plastic packaging?

From 2030: 30 % for contact-sensitive PET packaging, 10 % for other contact-sensitive plastic, 30 % for single-use plastic beverage bottles and 35 % for other plastic packaging. From 2040 the shares rise to 50 %, 25 %, 65 % and 65 % (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 7(1) and (2)).

### Can we advertise that our packaging meets the legal minimum?

Be careful. Presenting requirements imposed by law on all products in the category as a distinctive feature of your offer is unfair in all circumstances (Directive 2005/29/EC Annex I point 10a). Once the Article 7 minimum applies, a share above it is a fact worth stating; the minimum itself is not.

### Does recycled content collected outside the EU count for the PPWR?

It can, if it was collected under separate collection standards equivalent to the EU rules and recycled in an installation subject to equivalent emission rules (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 7(3)). Implementing acts under Article 7(8) and (10) set the calculation, verification and equivalence methodology.

### Are some packaging types exempt from the minimums?

Yes, among others compostable plastic packaging, certain medicinal and medical device packaging, packaging for dangerous goods, and plastic parts under 5 % of the packaging unit's weight (Regulation (EU) 2025/40 Article 7(4) and (5)).

## Regulations involved

PPWR

## Sources

1. [Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices (consolidated text of 27 September 2026)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02005L0029-20260927) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04
2. [Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024L0825) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04
3. [Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32025R0040) — EUR-Lex, 2026-10-04