What is a plastic credit? A plain guide
What a plastic credit is, how it is made and checked, where critics are right, and the questions I ask before trusting one. By Rob Vanoli, CEO.
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Guides and videos
Learn about plastic credits
Plain guides to plastic credits, plastic waste and recycling, with sources for every claim.
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Collecting plastic from a riverbank. Photo: Vitaly Gariev, Pexels. Not a Reclaim Earth project.
Guide library
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Plastic credits vs carbon credits: what's the same and what isn't
Plastic credits borrow their design from carbon credits: tonnes, baselines, audits, registries. Where they differ, and what plastic must learn from carbon.
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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: what it is (it isn't an island)
No, you can't walk on it or see it from space. What the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is, how big it is, what it's made of and where the plastic comes from.
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How plastic credits are verified: standards, registries and audits
Who writes the rules, who checks the evidence and where the records live. How the main plastic credit standards verify a credit, and how to check one yourself.
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Buying plastic credits responsibly: a guide for UK businesses
What plastic credits can and cannot do for a UK business, how to choose them, what drives the cost and how to word your claim under the CMA Green Claims Code.
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Are plastic credits greenwashing? What critics get right
What the main critiques of plastic credits say, where they are right, where they go too far, and what separates a credible credit from a marketing shortcut.
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Plastic credits in India and the Philippines: EPR rules and how collection works
How India's EPR certificates and the Philippines' EPR Act work, how they differ from voluntary plastic credits, and what that means for collection on the ground.
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What happens to collected plastic? Recycling, co-processing and landfill
Recycling, co-processing in cement kilns, energy recovery and landfill: where collected plastic goes, what each route means and what a plastic credit should tell you.
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Ocean-bound plastic: what it means and how it is measured
Where the term ocean-bound plastic comes from, the four OBP categories, how collection is checked and why "ocean plastic" claims need care.
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Waste pickers and plastic credits: who does the work
Waste pickers collect much of the world's recycled plastic. What plastic credits mean for them, what good projects do and what a buyer should ask.
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Extended producer responsibility (EPR) explained: the UK, the EU and Asia
What extended producer responsibility means, how packaging EPR works in the UK, the EU, India, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, and how it differs from plastic credits.
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Plastic waste in Indonesia: collection, rules and plastic credits
How much plastic waste Indonesia produces, the national targets and rules, how collection works and what to check before funding plastic credits there.
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How to word a plastic claim: the CMA Green Claims Code in practice
The six principles of the CMA Green Claims Code applied to plastic: recycled, recyclable, plastic-free and plastic credit claims, with UK rulings and examples.
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Written by
Rob Vanoli
CEO of Reclaimed Earth Limited. Every guide lists its sources, so you can check each claim yourself.
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