Trace the recycled content of your products from source to finish and support socially and environmentally friendly production.
supply chain of the recycled material from raw material to the finished product
PFI Fareast (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd. (PFI Fareast) provides a sustainable material certification that verifies the usage of recycled material through a traceability documentation system. The aim of the certification is to increase the amount of recycled material in global supply chains.
A finished product labelled with the RMC logo carries the following assurances:
It ensures that part of the product, in surface area or weight, is made from recycled material. The minimum acceptable amount of recycled material is 5% of the overall finished product
By qualifying for a Recycled Material Certification, PFI awards a tailor-made logo to Lidl verifying that their products are made from recycled content.
PFI’s project with Lidl started in 2019 and a first certified order of shoes was successfully certified and launched in July 2020. In only one order, Lidl creates a lasting impact. Near to 12,000,000 PET bottles were used for the “Ocean Feet” order – 3,960,000 of which came from ocean-bound areas.
Find out why such projects are highly important and get an insight into the supply chain of products from recycled PET bottles.
Application
Step 1: Applicant fills in basic application form here
Step 2: PFI FE product assessment identifies whether a product is within the scope of certification.
Step 3: Applicant provides order and supply chain data.
Step 4: PFI assesses whether suppliers in the certifiable supply chain hold a valid supplier license. If no license is held relevant audits will be conducted.
Step 5: PFI tests the recycled material at our in-house laboratory.
Step 6: PFI traces orders throughout production
Step 7: Transaction approvals are issued for purchasing and sales of material and products made from reclaimed material.
Step 8: Tier 1 supplier completes a visual product self-inspection at 20% of production.
Step 9: Certificate of Conformity is issued allowing applicant to use the Recycled Material Certification (RMC) logo on designated final products and marketing collateral.
For the initial certification inquiry, the following information is required
Once approved, further information is required for application:
Once submitted, the initial application will be processed within one week. Where PFI requires further information, processing can take up to two weeks.
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.
The PFI RMC poses two requirements, one for the product, one for the supply chain. A product can only be certified if it contains at least 5% of the certifiable recycled material. The percentage will be assessed in PFI’s in-house laboratory based on weight or surface area measurement.
A certifiable material must be made from 100% recycled content. A full RMC certification is awarded when the recycled content of the final product is over 50% recycled PET. Where the recycled material content is between 5 - 50%, an RMC Mixed certification is awarded. If a mixed fiber fabric is used, where the recycled material is mixed with non-recycled fibres, both materials must be traced (e.g. mélange fabric). The table below shows the boundary requirements for the recycled material content.
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.
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
If all criteria are met, the supplier license will be issued. It is valid for 1 year.
The audit fee can either be charged to the certificate applicant or the supplier license holder.
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.
PFI traces 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 provide transaction data of reclaimed material by submitting transaction documents together with supporting documents.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fees of transaction submission and verification are charged to the applicant. Please contact PFI for further details and pricing information.
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.
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.
For further information on the labelling and usage of the RMC logo, please download the
For further information on the labelling and usage of the RMC logo, please download the
