Recycled-content verification is the process of proving how much of a product is genuinely recycled, using a defined method rather than a supplier's word. That is the whole game. A recycled claim with no method behind it is a number someone typed, and the moment a buyer or a regulator asks how you know, it has to stand on something. This piece is about what that something looks like, and how our approach to verifying rPET works
Why "recycled" needs a method at all
The reason verification exists is that recycled content is invisible in the finished product. You cannot look at a yarn and read its recycled percentage off the surface. The fibre from reclaimed PET and the fibre from virgin PET behave alike, which is exactly why rPET is so useful and also why a claim about it has to be evidenced rather than observed.
Without a method, a recycled percentage is an assertion. Two things turn an assertion into evidence. The first is a defined measurement methodology, so that the number is produced the same way every time and can be checked. The second is independent validation, so that the method itself is not just marking its own homework. A claim that has both can travel into a buyer's compliance file and survive scrutiny. A claim that has neither is a hope with a number attached.
RA3, and why its scope is rPET only
Our verification methodology is called RA3. It is patent-pending and developed in-house, built to answer one question rigorously: how much of this product is genuinely recycled content. RA3 applies to rPET only, and we are deliberate about that boundary.
The scope is a feature, not a limitation. A verification method is built and validated for a specific material with specific properties. Stretching a method designed for recycled polyester across, say, recycled polypropylene and presenting the same proof would be exactly the kind of conflation that makes recycled claims untrustworthy in the first place. So when you see RA3, it sits beside rPET and nothing else. For other materials, the honest answer is a different basis of evidence, not RA3 wearing a borrowed hat.
How independent validation fits
RA3 does not validate itself. Wessling, an independent testing partner, validates the RA3 methodology. That is the step that turns an in-house method into one an outside party has scrutinised.
There is a distinction worth drawing clearly, because it is easy to overstate. Wessling validating the methodology is one thing. Wessling testing an individual product is another, and that product testing is available on request rather than shipped as standard. We would rather be plain than impressive here: not every product leaves independently tested by default. If independent test results on a specific product matter to your buyers or your compliance, ask for them and we will arrange it. That request-based model is the accurate picture, and we will not let a tidier story replace it.
The RA3 testing service, as a separate thing
There is a second way RA3 shows up, and it is worth separating from buying products. Companies can send their own rPET products in to have a recycled-content claim verified through the RA3 testing service. If your situation is "our supplier says this is 60% recycled and we want that checked independently," the testing service is the route, and it stands on its own as an offering distinct from commissioning finished products from us.
This matters because verification is increasingly something organisations need for material they did not make themselves. The testing service exists for exactly that, and it keeps the scope honest: rPET, verified by a method built for it.
Where certifications sit alongside
Verification and certification are complementary, not the same. GRS, the Global Recycled Standard, which we hold as a company, tracks recycled content through the supply chain as a chain-of-custody standard. A verification method like RA3 answers the "how much" question for the material itself. Used together, the chain of custody and the content measurement reinforce each other: one follows the material, the other quantifies what it is. For the full read on which certification guarantees what, see our certifications page.
What good verification lets you do
A verified claim is a claim you can defend. It survives the buyer's questionnaire, it holds up as regulation moves toward evidence over adjectives, and it gives your own marketing a number it can stand behind rather than a vague phrase it has to dodge around. The work of verification is unglamorous, and it is the difference between a recycled claim that is an asset and one that is a liability waiting for the right question.
If you have an rPET claim you need verified, our RA3 testing service is the place to start. And if you are specifying recycled polyester for a project, our recycled fabrics page is the place to begin.
FAQ
It proves how much of a product is genuinely recycled, using a defined and repeatable method rather than a supplier's say-so. Good verification pairs a measurement methodology with independent validation, so the number is produced consistently and the method has been scrutinised by an outside party. That combination is what lets a claim survive a buyer's or regulator's questions.
RA3 is our patent-pending, in-house methodology for verifying recycled content. It applies to rPET only, by design, because a method built and validated for recycled polyester should not be stretched onto other materials. Independent partner Wessling validates the RA3 methodology, and Wessling testing of an individual product is available on request.
No. Wessling validates the RA3 methodology, and independent testing of a specific product is available on request rather than as standard. If independent test results on a particular product matter for your compliance or your buyers, ask and we will arrange it. We are deliberately plain about this so the level of proof is never overstated.
Yes, for rPET. The RA3 testing service lets companies send in their own rPET products to have a recycled-content claim verified. It is a separate offering from commissioning finished products from us, and it exists precisely for material you did not make yourself but need to stand behind.