The Global Recycled Standard - usually shortened to GRS - is the certification scheme buyers meet most often when they ask a supplier to prove recycled content. GRS certification plastic programmes now cover recyclers, flake producers, compounders and moulders turning post-consumer bottles and industrial scrap into resin and finished parts. For a buyer, the scheme answers three questions at once: how much recycled material is really in the product, where that material came from, and whether the plants that handled it met social, environmental and chemical requirements. This guide explains how the standard works and what to verify before accepting a claim.
What grs certification plastic programmes cover
GRS was developed by Control Union in 2008 and transferred to Textile Exchange in 2011. Version 4.0 has applied since July 2017, and Textile Exchange published version 5.0 in July 2026 with a transition window for certified sites. Although it began in textiles, the scope now explicitly includes plastics, packaging, footwear and homeware. The global recycled standard is built from four modules: recycled-content requirements, chain of custody, social criteria and environmental requirements, with chemical restrictions layered on top. A product needs at least 20% recycled content to enter the scheme, and at least 50% to carry the GRS label on consumer-facing material.
| Module | What it verifies | Typical evidence at audit |
|---|---|---|
| Recycled content | Share of pre- and post-consumer recycled input | Mass-balance calculations, input and output records |
| Chain of custody | Traceability from recycling step to last B2B seller | Scope certificate, transaction certificates per shipment |
| Social criteria | ILO-aligned labour, wage and safety practice | Payroll, working-hour and training records |
| Environmental and chemical | Wastewater, energy, waste and restricted-substance control | Permits, monitoring data, chemical inventory |
How the chain of custody works
GRS is a chain-of-custody standard: every step from the recycling process onward must be certified, and the chain ends at the last business-to-business seller. Material collection points are treated differently - they require self-declaration, document collection and a site visit rather than full certification. Each certified site holds a scope certificate listing the address, processes and material families it may handle, and every shipment of certified material moves against a transaction certificate stating the recycled content, weight, buyer and seller. Mass balance is permitted under strict rules, so certified and conventional material may be mixed physically while the sustainability attributes stay tracked in the books.
Social, environmental and chemical requirements
- Social criteria follow ILO conventions: no forced, bonded or child labour, freedom of association, safe conditions, and legal wages and working hours. Sites holding BSCI, SA8000 or equivalent audits can be partially or fully exempted.
- Environmental requirements cover wastewater treatment, energy and water monitoring, and waste management at the certified site.
- Chemical restrictions align with industry input lists, so restricted substances are screened out of GRS production.
GRS, RCS and ISCC compared
- GRS: recycled content plus chain of custody plus the social, environmental and chemical modules; the label claim starts at 50% content.
- RCS (Recycled Claim Standard): the lighter sibling - content and chain of custody only, without the social and environmental modules.
- ISCC PLUS: certifies alternative-feedstock traceability, recycled or bio-based, with no minimum content threshold - see our ISCC PLUS certification guide.
What buyers should verify
- Ask which certificate the offer rests on - scope certificate, transaction certificate, or both - and check it against the site that will actually produce.
- Confirm the recycled-content percentage applies to your construction, not the supplier's best-known product.
- Check currency: GRS certificates run twelve months with surveillance audits, and lapses between cycles are common.
- Match claim wording to evidence: a grs certified statement below 50% content supports a recycled content claim, not a label claim.
Recycled resins and compounds are listed under plastic materials, background on resin identification sits in our plastic recycling codes guide, and audited supplier profiles are listed in the factory directory.
