EU Adopts First Union-Wide Mass Balance Rules
The European Union has officially adopted the first harmonized definition and calculation rules for mass balance accounting under the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD). The decision introduces clear requirements for chemical and physical traceability, helping establish a common framework for how sustainable feedstocks can be attributed to products across Europe.
"This decision marks a significant milestone for the chemical industry and for everyone working to accelerate the transition to renewable and recycled raw materials”, says Adam Kanne, Vice President of Public Affairs for PCG SC. “For years, Perstorp, together with customers, brand owners and industry partners, has advocated for a reliable framework that creates clarity and consistency for mass balance across the market. The SUPD provides both credibility and economic efficiency and should serve as a blueprint for PPWR and other product groups.”
A Clearer Framework for Sustainable Transformation
Mass balance is a chain-of-custody method that enables renewable, recycled and other sustainable raw materials to be introduced into existing chemical production systems while ensuring robust accounting and verification of their use. It is widely regarded as one of the most practical ways to accelerate the transition toward more sustainable value chains without requiring entirely new production infrastructure.
The newly adopted EU framework establishes several key principles, including:
- Chemical traceability - meaning that only the raw materials actually used to produce a product can be used to support sustainability claims for that product.
- No overcompensation - meaning a sustainable feedstock can only replace the share of a product that it chemically contributes to.
- Physical traceability at site level - preventing the transfer of sustainability credits between sites and requiring operational data on a process level.
- Fuel-use exclusion - material attributed to fuels cannot be counted toward sustainable material claims.
Together, these requirements create a more transparent and harmonized approach to mass balance accounting across the European market.
Reinforcing Perstorp's Traceable Mass Balance Approach
Perstorp's Pro-Environment portfolio has long been built around what the company refers to as Traceable Mass Balance, combining chemical and physical traceability at process level to maintain a real connection between sustainable feedstocks and finished products. This approach ensures that sustainability claims are supported by actual raw material use within the production process and that traceable molecules are present within the value chain. This is what customers and brand owners require to be credible towards consumers and to validate sustainable content claims in a product. Traceability is essential for building trust, enabling informed purchasing decisions, and creating the market signals needed to scale renewable and recycled feedstocks.
"This EU decision has greatly increased the robustness, credibility and trustworthiness of mass balance as a methodology,” says Anna Berggren, Head of Sustainability for PCG SC. “This is an essential precedent for future use of mass balance in European legislation beyond single-use plastics. A credible methodology makes it easier for companies to make trustworthy environmental claims towards consumers. Ultimately, it strengthens trust across the value chain, creates a level playing-field and supports faster adoption of renewable and recycled solutions.”
Accelerating the Shift Away from Fossil Resources
The chemical industry's transition extends far beyond energy and emissions. A significant share of the climate impact associated with chemicals originates from the carbon embedded in raw materials. Replacing fossil carbon with renewable and recycled alternatives therefore represents one of the most important opportunities for achieving long-term climate goals.
Mass balance enables this transition to happen gradually within existing production assets by allowing sustainable feedstocks and conventional feedstocks to be processed together while maintaining verified accounting of sustainable content. This approach helps accelerate demand for renewable and recycled raw materials, supports investment in new sustainable feedstock supply chains, and enables reduction of fossil resource dependence today rather than waiting for fully segregated systems to emerge.
Creating Confidence Across the Value Chain
The new EU framework is expected to set clear rules across industries and markets, providing greater confidence for customers, brand owners, investors and certification bodies. It also helps establish a common language around sustainability claims and traceability, supporting more transparent communication across value chains.
For Perstorp, BRB and PCG Specialty Chemicals, the decision represents both an important policy milestone and a positive step toward a future where renewable and recycled raw materials become the standard across the chemical industry.
As demand for sustainable solutions continues to grow, the company remains committed to supporting customers with ISCC PLUS-certified products, transparent sustainability documentation and solutions that contribute to the transition toward a more circular and climate-neutral economy.