Сollaborate on certification activities
PETCORE EUROPE and ECOSENSE FOUNDATION have signed a collaboration agreement to promote certification activities. This is a milestone in the relationship between the two entities that started five years ago. ECOSENSE has been participating in the Thermoforms Working Group since 2019 and it is a PETCORE member since 2021.
PETCORE and ECOSENSE have the common goal of promoting circularity by the incorporation of recycled content and recyclability of the PET packaging. While PETCORE represents the complete PET value chain in Europe, ECOSENSE is the owner of the RETRAY certification scheme[i] for PET thermoforms which main mission is to promote tray-to-tray recycling in Europe.
Now both entities have joined efforts to offer to the PET value chain members, certification services in addition to the PETCORE´s current activities. At the same time, these certification activities are included in the TCEP (Tray Circularity Evaluation Platform) framework which main mission is to give support to the value chain of thermoformed PET trays to improve recyclability and promote circularity.
With this collaboration agreement ECOSENSE and PETCORE are totally aligned with the current and next future European legal framework. While the new Directive on Green Claims will not allow companies to make environmental claims without a certified verification, the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation will establish the legal framework, to be developed by the correspondent delegated acts, about the recycled content declaration of conformity by certification bodies.
PETCORE EUROPE is the association based in Brussels, with more than 160 members, representing the complete PET value chain in Europe, from PET manufacture to conversion into packaging and recycling, and other related activities.
ECOSENSE FOUNDATION is the RETRAY certification owner based in Madrid, with more than 70 processes and products certified and approved in Europe representing more than 50% of the PET thermoform market considering the facilities capability audited in 2023.
To find more details, please check our website: www.petcore-europe.org/certification.html
[i] The RETRAY certification scheme operates at a European level and has been evaluated by ENAC to operate under accreditation. This means that the Certification Bodies must be evaluated through a rigorous process based on an international standard in order to operate in this scheme. Specifically, the Certification Bodies must be accredited for the ISO/IEC 17065 standard by an Accreditation Body that is a member of EA (European Cooperation for Accreditation) or IAF (International Accreditation Forum), which has signed mutual recognition agreements.
