As of 1 January, Law 7/2022 sets out that the amount of recycled plastic in products that are part of the excise duty’s target scope on non-recycled plastic used in non-reusable packaging must be certified by an ENAC-accredited body

The objective of Law 7/2022, on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy, was to set up a series of measures to prevent waste generation produced by non-reusable plastic packaging and promote recycling, aiming to increase circularity for this type of material.

Among these measures, the aforementioned law introduced an excise duty on non-recycled plastic used in non-reusable packaging. This must be paid for by manufacturers and importers of this type of packaging depending on the amount of non-recycled plastic they include in their packaging.

Therefore, according to the law’s provisions, as of 1 January, the amount of recycled plastic in products that are part of the duty's objective scope must be certified by an ENAC-accredited body, or by the national accreditation body of any other European Union Member State, according to the UNE-EN 15343:2008 standard.

For this reason, from the moment the law was approved, ENAC made the corresponding accreditation scheme available to certification bodies for certifying two activities: traceability in plastic recycling processes carried out by recycling companies and recycled content certification in plastic products, both based on the UNE-EN 15343:2008 standard. These aim to give certification bodies time to be accredited before the obligation comes into force.

So, the market currently has the following accredited bodies, for both the appropriate scheme and for international schemes related to recycled plastics:

• Aenor Internacional: for two certification schemes (traceability in the plastic recycling process and recycled plastic content).
• Externa Soluciones: for the RETRAY-Process and RETRAY-Product certification scheme for thermoformed PET containers and for two certification schemes (traceability in the plastic recycling process and recycled plastic content).
• IVAC Instituto de Certificación: for the RECYCLASS certification scheme and two certification schemes (traceability in the plastic recycling process and recycled plastic content).
• TÜV Austria Iberia: Inspection and Certification Services, for their own certification scheme (recycled plastic content).
• SGS International Certification Services Ibérica: for their own certification scheme (recycled plastic content).

The updated list of certification bodies can be consulted at any time in ENAC's accredited bodies browser.