RCS (Recycled Claim Standard) and GRS (Global Recycled Standard) both come from Textile Exchange, and both track recycled material through a chain of custody. They are not the same claim.
RCS is the content-tracking standard. GRS includes that tracking and adds social, chemical, and environmental requirements at certified sites. A buyer who only needs a checked recycled-content percentage is asking a different question from a buyer who needs the GRS site rules.
What to compare
| RCS | GRS | |
|---|---|---|
| Recycled content tracked | Yes | Yes |
| Social and chemical site requirements | No | Yes |
| Transaction certificate for a shipment | When the order is in the chain of custody | When the order is in the chain of custody |
| Scope certificate | Names the sites and products covered | Names the sites and products covered |
| Hangtag | Only if the lot is certified and the words match the content | Only if the lot and the site are in scope |
We sell regenerated polyester where the route is GRS. Stock GRS greige has no minimum when inventory matches the spec. Dyeing that cloth is 3,000 m per color. Other finishes are 5,000 m, the same floors as the virgin routes.
Scope certificate, then transaction certificate
The scope certificate says which company and which processes are certified. The transaction certificate follows a specific shipment. A logo on a website does not prove that the rolls in this container are covered. Ask which legal entity will be named, and whether this lot will get a transaction certificate.
Bottle-to-fiber language is not automatic proof for the cloth in front of you. Ask which yarn lot is in the order.
Claims on the hangtag
In the United States, the FTC Green Guides still govern recycled-content wording. In the EU, fiber names follow Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011. Recycled polyester is still polyester. The recycled share is a second sentence, and only when the certificate supports it.
“Recyclable” is not “recycled.” Do not print either word until the claim matches the document for that lot.