The Global Recycled Standard (GRS) is the certification your brand needs if you want to market garments as containing recycled materials. Without GRS certification from your manufacturer, any "recycled" or "made with recycled materials" claim on your product is unverified — and increasingly, legally exposed under UK and EU green claims regulations.
What is GRS?
GRS is an international standard managed by Textile Exchange that verifies the presence of recycled materials in a product and tracks the chain of custody from the recycled raw material through every production stage to the finished garment. GRS also sets environmental and social criteria at each stage of production — it is not just a material tracking standard.
What GRS Covers
- Verification that recycled input materials are genuinely from post-consumer or post-industrial waste
- Chain of custody documentation at every production stage
- Environmental requirements including chemical restrictions and wastewater management
- Social compliance criteria aligned with ILO labour standards
What Materials GRS Covers
GRS can certify recycled content from a wide range of materials including: recycled polyester (most commonly from post-consumer PET bottles), recycled cotton (post-industrial or post-consumer), recycled nylon, recycled wool and recycled acrylic. For apparel brands, recycled polyester fleece hoodies and recycled cotton t-shirts are the most common GRS-certified products.
What You Can Claim with GRS Certification
With GRS certification from your manufacturer, you can make specific, verified recycled content claims on your product and in your marketing. For example: "Made with 100% recycled polyester — GRS certified" or "Contains 30% GRS-certified recycled cotton." These claims are third-party verified and legally defensible.
Under the EU Green Claims Directive and UK consumer protection regulations, vague environmental claims like "eco-friendly" or "sustainable" are increasingly targeted by regulators. Specific, certified claims like "made with GRS-certified recycled polyester" are compliant. Unverified claims are not.
GRS vs RCS: What is the Difference?
GRS requires full environmental and social compliance throughout the supply chain. RCS (Recycled Claim Standard) verifies only the chain of custody of recycled content — without the additional environmental and social requirements. RCS is used for blended products or when the brand wants to make a recycled content claim without the full GRS scope. Both are Textile Exchange standards and both are credible.
How to Verify GRS Certification
- Go to textileexchange.org and access the certified company database
- Search by company name or country
- Check certificate validity and scope
- Request a transaction certificate for each GRS order