# Where does the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Standard say the recycling rate for a closed loop calculation should come from?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/recycling-rate-data-for-closed-loop-method

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol Product Standard says recycling data should be specific to your product, or the average for that product where it is consumed. For the closed loop method it should leave out material whose inherent properties changed. Where data mix materials and some change is known, it says to assume a percentage of property loss.

## Two allowed sources and one data rule

- Specific recycling data for your product.
- Average recycling data for the product in the geographic location where it is consumed, as set by the use profile.
- These two keep to the attributional approach of the standard.
- Separately, the standard says recycling data are subject to the same requirements and guidance as its chapter 8 on data collection and data quality.

## The extra rule for the closed loop method

- Companies should ensure the data used to find the recycled material output leave out material whose inherent properties have changed.
- Where the only data available mix recycled materials and some property change is known, companies should assume a percentage of property loss based on other available data. The standard's examples are a fall in economic value or a percentage loss of a material property such as elasticity.
- Where the data cannot be split but some part of the material properties is known to change, it should be clearly noted as a data quality limitation in the inventory report.

## What this means for a box or bottle maker (our reading)

The standard gives no formula for the property loss step. A simple reading is to multiply the aggregate rate by one minus the assumed loss, and to write down the source of the loss figure. A buyer may ask for a different treatment, so show the assumption and keep the raw rate beside it.

The 60 percent in the example below stands for recycled material output as a share of the material, which is the rate used in the displacement factor on the linked page. The multiplication is our reading.

## Example: a box recycling rate with a property loss

- Average recycling rate for boxes where they are sold: 60 percent (example)
- Part of that paper is known to come back as lower grade fibre; assumed property loss: 20 percent (example)
- Rate used for the closed loop sum: 60% x (1 minus 20%) = 0.60 x 0.80 = 48 percent
- Report the 60 percent, the 20 percent, where each came from, and note the limit.

All figures are example values. The multiplication is our reading, not a method the standard prints.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices, electricity bills and fuel slips into a dated emission record. Picking a recycling method for a product footprint stays with you and your buyer.

- [The closed loop displacement factor](https://senseible.earth/answers/closed-loop-virgin-material-displacement-factor)
- [Corrugated box carbon footprint per kilogram](https://senseible.earth/answers/corrugated-box-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Packaging sold, end of life in Category 12](https://senseible.earth/answers/sold-packaging-end-of-life-category-12)
- [Free calculators](https://senseible.earth/calculators)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard (chapters 7, 9 and 11)](https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/Product-Life-Cycle-Accounting-Reporting-Standard_041613.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Wording follows section 9.3.8 of the Product Standard. Confirm any local recycling rate against a published source before use.