Circular Economy, Recycling & Remanufacturing worked example

Recycling Contamination Rate at 2.88% maximum allowable contamination rate: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop maximum allowable contamination rate to 2.88%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Calculate contamination share in a recycling stream so teams can understand reject risk and downstream processing penalties.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Contaminated material found: 1,350 kg (held at the documented default)
  • Incoming material inspected: 27,000 kg (held at the documented default)
  • Maximum allowable contamination rate: 2.88 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 4)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Recycling Contamination Rate = contaminated material found ÷ incoming material inspected × 100.
  • Recycling Contamination Rate result works out to 5 % at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Recycling Contamination Rate gap to target works out to -2.12 points at these inputs.
  • Contaminated material found works out to 1,350 count at these inputs.
  • Incoming material inspected works out to 27,000 count at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where maximum allowable contamination rate sits at 4% and the headline result is 5 %, this scenario lands almost exactly on the baseline at 5 %.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to maximum allowable contamination rate, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. A bulk weight rate hides composition — 5% film behaves very differently from 5% wrong-color PET, so pair the rate with a contaminant breakdown before deciding on remediation.

Results at a glance

  • Recycling Contamination Rate result: 5 % (headline result)
  • Recycling Contamination Rate gap to target: -2.12 points
  • Contaminated material found: 1,350 count
  • Incoming material inspected: 27,000 count

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Recycling Contamination Rate calculator, set maximum allowable contamination rate to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.