We model the use of both pre- and post-consumer recycled content using the Circular Footprint Formula (CFF), a sophisticated method from the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) initiative and its corresponding database.
This formula provides a fair and scientific way to distribute the environmental “burdens” and “benefits” of recycling between the original product that was discarded and the new product made from its recycled materials.
How the Circular Footprint Formula (CFF) works
The CFF is an advanced formula that allocates the environmental impacts of recycling. It uses a “cut-off” approach to determine where one material’s life ends and the next begins, but it also includes a market allocation factor (the “A” factor) to reflect market realities.
Here is a simplified breakdown of how it assesses a product made with recycled content:
- The burden of the recycling process: The new product first takes on the full environmental impact of the recycling process itself. This includes the collection, sorting, and reprocessing of the waste material into a new, usable fiber.
- A share of the virgin material impact (The “A” Factor): The formula then adds a portion of the environmental impact of the virgin material that the recycled content is replacing on the market. This is the role of the “A” factor. It acts as a weighting that ensures the recycled material’s footprint still reflects its connection to the broader material market, which includes virgin production. This provides a more realistic and conservative impact score.
This combined approach ensures that recycled materials are not treated as “impact-free,” as the recycling process itself consumes resources, while still rewarding the use of secondary materials by allowing them to avoid a large part of the virgin production impact.
Pre-consumer vs. Post-consumer waste
Our methodology applies this formula to both primary types of recycled content:
- Pre-consumer waste: This is material diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process. A common example is fabric scraps from the cutting room floor that are collected and re-spun into new yarn.
- Post-consumer waste: This is material from a product that has been used by a consumer and then diverted from a landfill for recycling, such as a discarded garment that is collected and reprocessed.
The CFF methodology is robust enough to model both, using specific data from the PEF database that reflects the different collection and processing requirements for each type of waste.
Why we use this Method
Using the Circular Footprint Formula is the most scientifically advanced and fair way to model circular materials. It is the standardized approach recommended by the European Commission to prevent misleading claims and ensure that the environmental performance of recycled products is reported accurately and transparently. This provides you with the most credible and comparable assessment of your circular products.