FAQ

ReMade is the certification that attests to the content of recycled materials and by-products.. It represents a certification for the circular economy.

The ReMade certification is aimed at verifying the percentage of recycled content and by-products (both internal and external) in materials, semi-finished products, or finished products of any kind (including those made of different materials) and from any manufacturing sector.

The packaging of the ReMade-certified product is not included in the same certificate. The packaging must obtain a separate ReMade certification.

Yes, with the revision of the Technical Standards for producers in 2020, the content of byproducts from both internal and external sources can also be certified, in accordance with the traceability requirements and provisions established in our Technical Standards for Producers.

The certification content remains the same. In both cases, the content of recycled, recovered, and/or by-product material is certified. However, only ReMade-certified products, where the main production process or at least the final processing stage occurs in Italy, can use the ReMade in Italy trademark. Products that are packaged or filled in Italy but whose last significant manufacturing stage occurred abroad do not qualify for this category.

No, the minimum quantity must be more than zero, meaning the material or product must contain a percentage of recycled or by-product material that is not zero.

The certification can also be issued for products that have undergone chemical recycling; however, in this case, as there is no standard method for calculating the recycled content, the company must meet additional requirements. Therefore, the Technical Standards require that goods seeking ReMade certification have been previously certified against reliable certification schemes specific to chemical recycling, such as RED CERT 2 or ISCC PLUS. This requirement was included in the latest revisions of the scheme in 2023.

Yes, some certifications exist on the topic of ReMade, although some are relevant to specific sectors or materials, such as textiles (e.g., the Global Recycled Standard) or for a specific material (e.g., RecyClass or Plastic Second Life for plastic).
All are valid; the most important aspect is that to avoid greenwashing, the certification must be accredited and verified by a third party.

Since impartiality is an important element to guarantee objectivity, the certification is issued only by independent Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). There are no restrictions on the number of CABs that can operate, but only accredited CABs can issue certifications under the ReMade scheme. These CABs must first be recognized by the ReMade Foundation according to established procedures, and this recognition is a prerequisite for receiving accreditation by a national accreditation body. The list of CABs recognized by ReMade is published on the Foundation’s website.

Certification is issued following a documentary analysis and an on-site audit at the company’s production site by a ReMade-qualified auditor collaborating with an accredited CAB. Through these checks, the CAB verifies the presence and implementation by the company of all the elements that allow for the traceability and quantification of recycled material and their suppliers. The duration of these verifications depends on the number of samples to be made. During the checks, all the requirements listed in the “ReMade Producers TS” must be verified. The documentary analysis must be performed whenever products are evaluated for the first time to be included in the scope of certification; during surveillance visits (which take place every year for the duration of validity of the certificate), in the absence of new products or significant changes to the production process, only the on-site audit is carried out.

During the samplings, which must be carried out at least once a year, all the requirements of the “ReMade Producers TS” must be checked; for the sampled products, the application of the requirements must be fully verified.
To determine the number of samples, the following instructions apply:

• The number of samples is based on the number of product families undergoing certification according to TABLE 1 in section 6.1 of “ReMade Producers TS.”
• The sampling must be representative of all product categories, provided that the production processes of the certified products differ during the three-year validity period of the certification.

A family means a set of products with the following characteristics:

• belong to the same product category
• have an identical production process
• are composed of the same relevant components for recycled content (e.g., additives, paints, dyes, etc., without recycled content, are not considered).

A family cannot include more than 20 products.

The organization must perform a mass balance calculation for each product within the scope of ReMade certification to verify that the quantities of products manufactured and the declared percentage of recycled, recovered, and by-product material used are consistent with the raw materials used.

The content of recycled, recovered, and by-products must be expressed quantitatively as a percentage X (%) = (A/P) × 100 where X is the recycled content expressed as a percentage; A is the mass of recycled, recovered, and by-product material; P is the mass of the product]. Since there are no available methods for the direct measurement of the content of recycled, recovered, and by-products in a product, the mass of the material obtained from the recovery process must be used, after accounting for losses and other deviations.

Any conversion factors can be used in the calculation, provided their validity can be demonstrated by the organization itself. Internal by-product streams must also be quantified through measurements and a mass balance. In this case, the mass balance must be ensured with evidence of no double-counting.

The calculation must be performed periodically or at least once a year (six months in the case of products subject to continuous processing).

After contacting the CAB and receiving a cost estimate within a few days, the company can begin the certification process. The verification includes a documentary phase, where documentation required by the Technical Standards is sent to the CAB, and an on-site phase, with a visit from the appointed auditor. The time it takes to issue the certificate depends on the company’s level of preparedness. Once the audit is completed, the certificate is issued, on average, within one or two weeks. Usually, the minimum time to obtain the certification from the first contact with the conformity assessment body is three months, assuming there are no particular issues and there is only one production site.

For a company that wants to certify up to five product families (each family can include a maximum of 20 products), the cost corresponds, indicatively, to a single day’s rate for a CAB which is from € 1.000 to 2.000 in Italy. Travel expenses and other costs (e.g., in the case of multiple production sites) must also be added.

Price variations can depend on the individual quotes from different CABs. Therefore, a company that intends to certify its products can request a quote from several accredited CABs and choose the one that best suits its needs.

Certified organizations are required to pay royalties to the ReMade Foundation. These royalties are determined by a fixed fee (€150), which increases based on the number of product families to be certified and the duration of the audit (on-site visit + documentary analysis).

The mechanism for determining royalties is clearly described in Table 2, point 6.2 of the “ReMade Producers TS” Technical Standards. These royalties are collected by the conformity assessment bodies and transferred annually to the Foundation.

The applicant Company submits a request to the ReMade Foundation via email (by writing to segreteria@remade.it), attaching a copy of the issued certificate. The Foundation, after verifying the certificate’s validity, will issue the labels within 15 working days, except in specific cases where the issuance may take longer. A company that has obtained the ReMade certificate can request either large labels (with details on avoided environmental impacts) or small labels (or both) for its certified products. The methods for using the labels are regulated in the ReMade Technical Standards concerning the use of trademarks and logos.

The ReMade large label also includes data on the avoided CO₂ emissions and saved energy, resulting from producing with recycled material instead of virgin material.

This data comes from European-wide LCA databases that are continuously updated and are therefore outside of accredited certification. In fact, the bottom part of the ReMade label, where these data are reported, states “data not subject to certification”.

In the PPWR Regulation, there is a provision for a minimum content of recycled material in plastic packaging, and also, according to the SUP Directive, PET bottles must contain a minimum amount of recycled plastic.

Regarding the provision of recycled content, without indications of a minimum, the new definition of scale-recycled packaging waste is also found in the PPWR Regulation, while in the Ecodesign Regulation, recycled content is required among the Ecodesign requirements, and again in the Construction Products Regulation, the maximization of recycled content is required.