Sustainable Packaging & EPR Compliance worked example

Packaging Recycled Content at 99% recycled-content target: a worked example

What does the result look like when recycled-content target reaches 99%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use it when packaging recycled content in sustainable packaging and epr compliance needs a clean rate and gap-to-target you can put on a tier board.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Recycled-content units in sample: 8 count (unchanged)
  • Total packaging units sampled: 250 count (unchanged)
  • Recycled-content target: 99 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 95)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Packaging recycled content rate = packaging recycled content count ÷ total packaging recycled content population × 100) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 3.2 % for packaging recycled content rate, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 95.8 points for packaging recycled content gap to target.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 8 count for packaging recycled content count.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 250 count for total packaging recycled content population.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where recycled-content target sits at 95% and the headline result is 3.2 %, this scenario lands almost exactly on the baseline at 3.2 %.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when recycled-content target is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. A unit count treats every item equally; if items differ in weight, a mass-based recycled-content calculation is what regulators usually require, and this count-based rate will diverge from it.

Results at a glance

  • Packaging recycled content rate: 3.2 % (headline result)
  • Packaging recycled content gap to target: 95.8 points
  • Packaging recycled content count: 8 count
  • Total packaging recycled content population: 250 count

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Packaging Recycled Content calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.