On June 30, 2026, the European Commission adopted an important draft implementing decision (C(2026)4381), establishing new rules for the calculation, verification, and reporting of recycled plastic content in single-use plastic beverage bottles (specifically PET bottles). For the first time, this decision formally incorporates chemical recycling into compliant recycling pathways and introduces Mass Balance Accounting as the core method for tracking recycled materials, while repealing the previous Decision 2023/2683.
Core Change: Introduction of Mass Balance Accounting
- Expanded Scope of Recycling Technologies: In addition to mechanical recycling, "other recycling methods" such as chemical recycling are now included.
- Mass Balance Accounting: When polymers are broken down during recycling and the output ratios are unknown (as in chemical recycling), the mass balance method is used to track the flow of "eligible materials" (derived from post-consumer plastic waste).
- Fuel Exclusion Principle: Eligible materials processed into fuel or lost are not counted toward recycled content; solid dual-use outputs are entirely excluded.
Key Definitions
- Recycled Plastic: Refers exclusively to plastic recovered from post-consumer plastic waste.
- Post-Consumer Plastic Waste: Waste generated from plastic products that have been placed on the market, excluding pre-consumer waste from production processes.
- PET Bottle: Single-use beverage bottles whose main component is polyethylene terephthalate (including caps, labels, and sleeves).
- Eligible Materials: Post-consumer plastic waste and materials derived therefrom.
Geographic Scope and Timeline
- Recycling Within the EU: Counts immediately from the effective date of the decision.
- OECD Countries: From November 21, 2027, recycling may count if assessed as meeting environmentally sound management requirements.
- Non-OECD Countries: Must enter into an agreement with the EU to ensure that recycling processes comply with EU health and environmental protection standards.
Calculation and Verification Mechanisms
- Calculation Point: Established at the point in the supply chain where the chemical or physical composition of the material changes.
- Special Rules for Steam Cracking Installations: For liquid eligible materials entering steam cracking installations, boiling point distribution testing (EN 15199 series standards) is used to determine the proportion of the evaporable fraction.
- No Overdrafts: Mass balance accounts must not show a negative balance.
- Cross-Enterprise/Facility Restrictions: Attributed amounts may not be transferred between different companies or different facilities (although physical materials may be moved with accompanying documentation).
Verification and Reporting Obligations
- Declaration Transfer: Economic operators must provide a declaration for each consignment containing recycled materials (using the template in Annex V) and retain it for at least 5 years.
- Third-Party Verification: Processing facilities where neither the input nor the output is a polymer must undergo annual third-party verification (every three years for SMEs).
- Member State Reporting: Member States must report to the European Commission the weight of plastic, the weight of recycled plastic, and the proportion thereof in PET bottles, using the format set out in Annex II.
This decision will be reviewed by the Commission no later than January 1, 2030, at which time the commercial progress of chemical recycling technologies will be assessed.
