What does recycled content mean?

Pre-consumer and post-consumer

The Green Guides separate recycled material into two kinds. Post-consumer material comes from items that were used by households or businesses and then collected, such as bottles, cans or paper that people sent for recycling. Pre-consumer material comes from manufacturing scrap that is diverted from the waste stream and reused.

Under the Guides, material that a manufacturer normally reuses in the same process does not count as recycled content, because it was never really waste.

In everyday shopping this means two items that both say recycled can be quite different. One may be made from bottles that people returned for recycling, while another may use offcuts from the factory floor. Neither is wrong, but a label that spells out which kind it is gives you more to go on.

How the claim should read

The Green Guides' section on recycled content says a claim should be clear about whether it refers to the whole product or only part, and should not overstate how much of the item is made from recycled material. A statement like made with recycled material on its own can be vague, so look for wording that says what part and how much.

• Does the claim refer to the product, the package or both?
• Does it say post-consumer or pre-consumer?
• Does it name an amount, and does the amount match the part described?

What to check on the label

Look for the exact words near the claim. A symbol with arrows, a leaf or a green color is not itself a statement of recycled content, and the Green Guides caution against unqualified claims that could suggest more than is true. If a package says recycled and the wording is on only one component, such as a box but not the item inside, take it to mean only that part.

If the label is vague, the maker's website often explains the material in more detail.

What it does not tell you

Recycled content describes what a product is made from. It is separate from whether the item can be recycled again, which is a different claim with its own rules, and it says nothing on its own about performance or price.

Shopping notes

Paper goods are a common place to see this claim. Our guides to eco-friendly paper towels and facial tissue point out what to look for on those labels, and the FSC answer covers a related paper claim.

Sources

• FTC Green Guides (16 CFR Part 260), recycled content section
• Product label statements