Recycled Standards - Differences between GRS Certification and RCS Certification

GRS certification and RCS certification are both recycling standards, but their scope of application is different.

Firstly, let's understand these two types of authentication from their meanings.

The global recycled standard - GRS certification, is developed to verify the needs of recycled products or certain specific products in the textile industry. More importantly, it is important for retailers and consumers to understand which parts of a specific product are recycled materials and how these materials are handled in the supply chain. GRS certification provides a tracking and certification system to ensure that your commitments regarding the productare effectively fulfilled.

GRS certification is applicable to products with recycled raw material content between 20% -100%.

Recycled Claim Standard - RCS Certification, also known as Recycled Claim Standard in English, is another recycling (recycling) standard launched by TE Textile Trading Organization in 2013, used to provide certification basis for products using recycled raw materials.

RCS certification is applicable when the content of recycled raw materials is greater than or equal to 5%.

The difference between RCS certification and GRS certification is:

1. GRS is an advanced version of RCS: RCS products can use GRS certified raw materials, but GRS products cannot use RCS raw materials.

2. GRS is suitable for products with recycled raw material content between 20% -100%.

3. GRS has added environmental and social responsibility requirements to the RCS requirements.

4. The certification identification is different.

5. GRS has requirements for the chemicals used in the process, while RCS does not.

Therefore, the main differences between the two are:

Different recycling content: GRS certified recycling content needs to be above 20%; The RCS certification only requires a recycling content of over 5%.

Environmental and Social Responsibility Review: GRS requires an environmental and social responsibility review; RCS does not require environmental and social responsibility audits.

Whether a factory or enterprise conducts GRS certification or RCS certification depends on the needs of the customer and the conditions of the product itself.