File the recycled-content evidence for one plastic component

People who manufacture or import plastic packaging use the plastic packaging tax guide for registration and returns. This log does not decide whether you must register. The disposal route for the same component stays on the packaging guide. Keep percentage filing here. Recyclability claims go to the recyclable packaging claims checklist.

Fill in the evidence log

Download all three files. Type into a copy of the blank log. The spreadsheet does not divide the masses.

• Blank log, evidence-log-blank.csv
• Instructions, evidence-log-instructions.csv
• Fictional example, evidence-log-example.csv

supplier_reported_percent is the figure on the supplier’s document. It must be from 0 to 100 inclusive. recycled_mass_g and total_plastic_mass_g are grams of plastic in that same component. Leave them blank until you copy them. A blank is not zero. Both numbers must be zero or greater. A recomputation needs a total greater than zero and a recycled mass no greater than that total.

When both masses are valid, divide recycled mass by total plastic mass, multiply by 100, and round half up to one decimal place. Write that in recomputed_percent. It matches only when supplier_reported_percent has at most one decimal place and equals that rounded figure. Otherwise arithmetic_check is differs. If a mass is negative, the total is zero, or the recycled mass is greater than the total, leave recomputed_percent blank and set arithmetic_check to invalid.

source_type is post_consumer, pre_consumer or not_stated. row_status is claim_filed, arithmetic_matches, arithmetic_differs or waiting. claim_filed means the supplier figure and the document are on the row, both mass cells are blank, and arithmetic_check is not_checked. It is not a completed calculation. If the masses are invalid, leave them visible, leave recomputed_percent blank, set arithmetic_check to invalid, and set row_status to waiting. arithmetic_matches means the valid check matched. arithmetic_differs means the valid check did not match. Neither differing nor invalid arithmetic is completed purchasing evidence. Neither status says the tax is avoided.

HMRC’s page on which packaging is subject to Plastic Packaging Tax, last updated 28 August 2026, says plastic is assumed to be non-recycled unless there is evidence it is recycled. Recycled plastic is pre-consumer or post-consumer waste that has been reprocessed by a chemical or mechanical process. Material that is only shredded or ground and put back into the same manufacture is not recycled plastic. Reprocessed pre-consumer waste can count before 1 April 2027. From that date, HMRC says pre-consumer plastic waste is not accepted as recycled plastic for the tax. That is a tax definition. It is not a verdict this log can give. Who must keep the tax records is explained on the tax guide.

A mandatory certificate for mechanically recycled plastic is a consultation, not a rule in force. Do not refuse a row because a particular logo is absent. A logo without a percentage and a component stays waiting.

Worked example: a fictional film

The example is fictional. It does not say any row avoids the tax.

These rows are separate fictional scenarios. Each specification id is used once. evidence-log:NS-FILM-1:claim_filed means only the blank-mass row. evidence-log:NS-FILM-ZERO:claim_filed does not qualify, because that row is waiting and its arithmetic is invalid. A row whose arithmetic differs is not a completed match.

Limits

This log does not decide food-contact safety, the 10-tonne threshold, or a public claim. An FSC or PEFC label on paper is a different check: check an FSC or PEFC claim. Recyclability is not a percentage; those claims go to the recyclable packaging claims checklist. Before publishing a percentage, read the green claims code.

Sources

Accessed 9 October 2026.

• Check which packaging is subject to Plastic Packaging Tax, HMRC, last updated 28 August 2026. Recycled-plastic definition, the pre-consumer timing, and the worked example that divides recycled plastic weight by the total weight of the plastic elements.
• Records and accounts you must keep for Plastic Packaging Tax, HMRC, last updated 2 February 2023. Records for a component claimed to contain at least 30 percent recycled plastic, and the statement that an invoice need not show that the tax was paid.
• Plastic Packaging Tax: potential certification for mechanically recycled plastic packaging. A consultation, not a current certificate duty.