What is the difference between PIR and PCR recycled content, and how does SyncForce map this to GS1?

1. PIR and PCR Background

Post-Industrial Recycled material, PIR

PIR is recycled material originating from material diverted from the waste stream during manufacturing.

ISO 14021:2026 uses pre-consumer material and post-industrial material as alternative terms for the same concept. It defines this as material diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process.

Material such as rework, regrind or scrap that is recovered and reused within the same process that generated it is excluded from recycled content.

Example:

Manufacturing of PET preforms → rejected PET preforms → collected for recycling → recycled PET granulate → new packaging

The recycled PET granulate is PIR because the source material became waste during manufacturing, before reaching an end user.

By contrast:

Manufacturing process → production trim → ground and directly fed back into the same production process

This is not PIR recycled content under the ISO definition because the material is reclaimed within the same process that generated it.

Post-Consumer Recycled material, PCR

PCR is recycled material originating from products or packaging discarded by an end user after they are no longer used for their intended purpose.

ISO 14021 defines post-consumer material as material generated by households or by commercial, industrial or institutional organisations acting as end users.

Example:

Shampoo bottle → consumer uses product → empty bottle discarded → collection and recycling → recycled HDPE → new packaging

Another example:

Case of food products → restaurant receives and opens case → corrugated case discarded → recycling → recycled paper fibre

The restaurant is a commercial organisation, but for the packaging it is acting as the end user. The resulting recovered material can therefore be post-consumer material.

For packaging, PCR should not simply be defined as material recycled after the product use phase. Packaging for durable products may be discarded before the product itself is used.

For example:

Television → consumer removes corrugated packaging → packaging discarded

The television has not completed its use phase, but the packaging has completed its intended function. The packaging can therefore enter the post-consumer stream.

The practical boundary

PIR: material diverted for recycling during manufacturing, before it reaches an end user.

PCR: material originating from an end user after the product or packaging is no longer used for its intended purpose.

Pre-consumer and post-industrial are therefore treated as alternative terms for the same recycled-material source category.

2. How recycled content is managed in SyncForce

SyncForce uses the terminology:

• PIR, Post-Industrial Recycled
• PCR, Post-Consumer Recycled

These terms describe the source of the recycled material used in a packaging material.

For example, a packaging material could consist of:

Within SyncForce:

PIR = Post-Industrial Recycled material

This includes recycled material from qualifying manufacturing waste, but excludes material such as rework, regrind or production scrap that is recovered and reused within the same manufacturing process.

PCR = Post-Consumer Recycled material

This includes recycled material originating from households and commercial, industrial or institutional organisations acting as end users.

3. How SyncForce maps PIR and PCR to GS1

GS1 uses PackagingRawMaterialCode to identify the source of recycled packaging material.

For Post-Industrial Recycled material, GS1 uses:

PRE_CONSUMER_RECYCLED_CONTENT

GS1 description: Pre-consumer (post-industrial) recycled content

This corresponds to what SyncForce manages as PIR.

For Post-Consumer Recycled material, GS1 uses:

RECYCLED

This corresponds to what SyncForce manages as PCR.

The mapping is therefore:

SyncForce:PIR → GS1: PRE_CONSUMER_RECYCLED_CONTENT

SyncForce:PCR → GS1:RECYCLED

The terminology differs, but the underlying material-source classification does not.

SyncForce therefore keeps PIR and PCR as its user-facing terminology. PIR is used for Post-Industrial Recycled material, which corresponds to GS1's Pre-Consumer Recycled Content, while PCR is used for Post-Consumer Recycled material.

This avoids an important ambiguity: both Pre-Consumer Recycled and Post-Consumer Recycled can be abbreviated as PCR. Using PIR and PCR keeps the two recycled-content sources clearly distinguishable while remaining compatible with GS1 and ISO terminology.