Recycled Material Certification Blue
Trace the recycled content of your products from a coastal source into finished product, and support socially and environmentally friendly production.
RMC Blue traces upcycled coastal material
Marine plastic pollution has reached a catastrophic level. At least eight million pieces of plastic find their way into our oceans every day. With PFI RMC Blue, you can verify the content of recycled PET bottles from coastal regions in your product.
RECYCLE
Reduce maritime plastic pollution
TRACE
Accurately trace recycled material from the source to the finished product
EMPOWER
Foster social environmentally friendly manufacturing
What RMC Blue stands for
A finished product labelled with the RMC Blue logo carries the following assurances: It ensures that a majority of the product, is made from recycled material. This means the recycled material must make up more than 50% of the finished product.
- It guarantees that the material content itself contains recycled PET from coastal regions.
- It traces the supply chain of PET bottles, from their source to the point of sale of the final product. Only material containing recycled content from collection centres in coastal areas is eligible to receive an RMC Blue logo.
- It verifies that facilities involved in the manufacturing of certified products comply with social and environmental standards.
How to get the PFI Recycled Material Certification Blue:
- Test your products
- Assess your suppliers
- Trace your supply chain
- Certify your products
- Communicate your achievements
- Application form: download and fill out the application for a certificate of conformity here.
- Product sample: once we receive your form, we’ll ask you to send a sample of your product.
- Test and application approval: after receiving the sample, PFI will test it in our
laboratory and verify that a majority of the product is made from recycled material. If this is the case, we will approve your application
- Pre-assessment: we send pre-assessment documents to your suppliers.
- On-site assessment: we arrange an on-site visit to verify the information provided.
- Supplier license approval: we review and assess the results and send a report both to you and to your supplier. If all the requirements are fulfilled, the supplier receives a PFI HK license valid for 1 year.
- Test and inspection: we conduct regular audits, quality inspections and product testing.
- Document approval: we check both supplier and buyer transaction documents, delivery notes and purchase invoices.
- Data traceability tool: the chain of custody data are uploaded on our online tool, tracked and verified by PFI HK.
- Get the certificate: once all the documents are processed and approved, we issue a Recycled Material Certification for your product.
- Get unique certification numbers: you will receive a unique certification number for each certified product.
- Your products’ hang tag: each hangtag will show the Recycled Material Certification number. Download the PFI Recycled Material Certification Logo Brand and Usage Guidelines (available for download soon).
- Customer area: we have created a search page where final customers can input the certification number shown on the product hang tag and check the traceability of the material.
FAQ
Application
How can I get the PFI Recycled Material Certification for my products?
Step 1: Applicant fills in basic application form here
Step 2: PFI assesses whether product is within the scope of certification. In some cases, a sample product will be required.
Step 3: Applicant provides order and supply chain data.
Step 4: PFI conducts supply chain audit and issues supplier licences.
Step 5: PFI tests raw material in in-house laboratory.
Step 6: Order is traced throughout production.
Step 7: Transaction approvals are issued for purchase and sales of reclaimed material.
Step 8: Certificate of Conformity is issued and allows applicant to use the Recycled Material Certification (RMC) logo.
What information/documentation do I need to apply for RMC Blue?
For the initial certification inquiry, the following information is required
- Contact details
- Product details (product type, material, if available technical drawing or image)
- Information on supply chain (facilities, location)
Once approved, further information is required for application:
- Order details (Bill of material, design drawings, styles, colours, quantities)
- Order timeline
- Detailed information on facilities involved in manufacturing of product
- Payment information
How long does the application take?
Once submitted, the initial application will be processed within one week. The second stage of application may take up to two weeks.
Certification
For which product categories does PFI HK issue PFI RMC?
The PFI RMC certifies products made from textile material, such as garments, toys, footwear, outdoor equipment, travel equipment, furniture, home textiles, sports equipment.
*This list is not comprehensive. PFI reserves the right to add and remove product categories as required.
What is the minimum % of the product that must be made out of the certified material?
The PFI RMC poses two requirements, one for the product, one for the material.
A product can only be certified if more than 51% of the product is made out of the certifiable recycled material. The percentage will be assessed in PFI’s laboratory based on weight or area measurement. A certifiable material must be made from 100% recycled content to receive the PFI RMC certification. If the recycled content in the recycled material is between 25% and 100%, a PFI RMC Mix
certification will be issued. This will be the case if e.g. a fiber producer mixes virgin material with recycled material.
In case of fiber mix in a fabric, where the recycled material is mixed with non-recycled fibres, both materials must be certified (e.g. melange fabric).
There are specific guidelines pertaining to the percentage of certifiable recycled material the final product. The product will be labelled with the RMC logo or the RMC Mix logo. The table below shows the boundary requirements for the recycled material content.
Will the material or product be tested?
Recycled material as well as the finished product will be tested to ensure compliance with the customer’s RSL. If the product comes under European directives, PFI conducts the test accordingly to ensure compliance with those requirements. PFI provides in-house chemical and physical testing services in case the client wants to conduct any additional testing.
Who needs to be certified?
Each party involved in the trade or manufacturing of the certified product has to be certified.
On-Site Verification
Why does PFI conduct on-site assessments?
Within the RMC, each facility has to hold a valid supplier license in order to manufacture products certified under RMC. Each supplier is required to meet environmental, social and traceability standards before a supplier licence can be issued. PFI recognises equivalent standards in order to reduce the cost of certification for facilities along the supply chain, to reduce assessment fatigue, and to acknowledge standards with shared principles. In order to be recognised as an equivalent standard and to reduce the scope of assessment, the factory must provide a valid certificate to the certification body. Recognised environmental standards include: ISO 14001, Global Recycled Standard (GRS), Oeko Tex Step, PFI Environmental Assessment Recognised social standards include: BSCI, WRAP, SA8000, Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), Global Recycled Standard (GRS), Oeko Tex Step, PFI Social Assessment
How often is an on-site assessment conducted?
If all criteria are met, the assessment is valid for 1 year.
What about the audit fee?
The audit fee is charged to the applicant of the certification.
How long does it take until one new supplier can receive a supplier license?
From submitting factory data, it normally it takes between 3-4 weeks to arrange the on-site visit, issue the audit report and corrective action plan and the supplier license. In some cases, where minimum requirements are not met, a second visit might be necessary, which will extend the time needed to receive a supplier license.
Traceability
What is Traceability?
PFI tracks the flow of material from origin of raw material up to the assembly and packaging of the finished product. This is necessary to ensure recycled material claims are matching throughout the supply chain. In order to do so, PFI requires facilities to submit a Transaction Document (download here) together with supporting documents of purchase and sales.
Who is responsible for ensuring traceability of the material?
An in-house system will be set up by the facility manufacturing the certifiable material. If a chain of custody is also being certified, then each facility involved in manufacturing and assembling the product along the entire product supply chain will each have an inhouse system to track the certifiable material. This traceability will be checked by the certification body through transaction documents and supporting information (e.g. receipts) provided to the certification body by all relevant facilities.
What shall I prepare for submission of Transaction Documents?
For traceability PFI will send you documents that you need to fill in for each purchase and sale of recycled material. Please fill in a Transaction Document together with purchases and sales record and supporting documents and send it back to PFI, no later than one week after the transaction took place.
When do I need to submit Transaction Documents?
A Transaction Documents is required for every purchase or sale of claimed material/products. This might vary from a daily submission to one-off submission.
Who is responsible for submitting Transaction Documents to the Certification Body?
Ultimately, the applicant is responsible for providing information of its supply chain. The applicant can ask its suppliers to directly contact PFI and submit Transaction Documents.
How Much Does the submission of Transaction Documents cost? And who pays?
Fees of transaction submission and verification are charged to the applicant. Please contact PFI for further details and pricing information.
What happens if a party refuses to provide transaction data to their certification body?
The refusal to provide transaction documents and supporting data represents a breach of the certification requirements. If information is not provided within the time frame requested by the certification body, the certificate will be suspended.
What Are The Consequences if false claims are made by a party?
In such cases, PFI reserves its right to handle each case individually and take appropriate actions. The consequences can reach from resubmission to termination of certification for this order.
Product labelling
Am I able to use the certification logo directly on my product or only on the hang tag?
For further information on the labelling and usage of the RMC logo, please read the
How can I use the certification logo in my marketing collateral and online?
For further information on the labelling and usage of the RMC logo, please read the