Plastic Waste Recycling

In short

Plastic Waste Reduction Standard: credits for verified recycling of plastic.

What it is

PWRM0002 provides procedures to quantify the additional plastic waste recycled under Verra's Plastic Waste Reduction Program. Eligible activities include installing new recycling facilities, adding capacity or improving technology at existing facilities, and incentivizing or facilitating an increase in the collection of plastic waste that is then recycled. Version 1.1 covers both mechanical recycling and chemical recycling, also called advanced or tertiary recycling. Each credit is a Waste Recycling Credit representing one tonne of plastic waste recycled.

What it rewards

The reward is a credit called a Waste Recycling Credit (WRC). One credit stands for one tonne of material. One tonne of CO₂-equivalent verified-and-issued. A whole period of work is issued as one batch of credits at a time, in the same way a registry issues a batch.

What gets measured

To earn WRC credits, a project has to measure and prove a few things. An independent reviewer checks the evidence before any credits are issued.

• The baseline: what would most likely have happened to the land or the emissions if the project had not gone ahead.

• The activity data for the period, with clear units and a clear source for every number.

• The net result actually achieved, checked by an independent reviewer before any credits are issued.

Who takes part

• Standard Registry. Owns the policy, approves participants, anchors each issuance to its evidence.

• Project Proponent. Registers the project and submits monitoring reports.

• Validation & Verification Body. Independently validates the design and verifies monitored data.

How it works

1. 1

   The project team registers the project and its plan.

2. 2

   An independent reviewer checks that the plan is sound and that the benefit is real and would not have happened anyway.

3. 3

   The team looks after the site and measures the agreed indicators over time.

4. 4

   The independent reviewer verifies those measurements.

5. 5

   Credits are issued for the verified result, and a buyer can retire a credit to claim the benefit once.