GRS vs RCS: Which Recycled Certification Do You Actually Need?

The short answer

GRS (Global Recycled Standard) is the more comprehensive standard — it verifies recycled content and also requires social compliance and chemical testing at the production facility. RCS (Recycled Claim Standard) verifies recycled content only, without the social and environmental layer.

If your brand needs to use "GRS certified" in consumer-facing communication, you need GRS — and so does every entity in your supply chain. If you just need documented recycled content for internal reporting or your brand doesn't specifically require GRS, RCS may be sufficient. And if your brand doesn't make certified recycled content claims at all, a third-party test report may cover what you need without either certification.

What GRS actually covers

GRS certification, issued by Textile Exchange, covers four things:

• Recycled content verification: Confirms the percentage of recycled input, tracing from the recycled material source through to the finished material
• Chain of custody: Every company handling the material — recycler, manufacturer, trader, brand — must hold GRS certification for the claim to pass through to the end product
• Social compliance: The certified facility must demonstrate compliance with labour standards — no forced labour, no child labour, fair wages, safe working conditions
• Chemical requirements: The facility must meet restricted substances requirements — effectively a chemical safety baseline on top of the recycled content verification

Annual on-site audits by an accredited certification body (SGS, Bureau Veritas, Control Union, among others) are required to maintain certification. It's a real commitment for the supplier.

What RCS covers — and what it doesn't

RCS also comes from Textile Exchange and also requires chain of custody certification across the supply chain. The difference: it verifies recycled content only. No social compliance requirements, no chemical testing requirements. It's a narrower standard, purpose-built for content traceability.

That narrower scope cuts both ways. It's easier and cheaper for suppliers to obtain, which means more suppliers hold it. But it doesn't give you the social and chemical assurance that GRS does — which matters if your brand has sustainability commitments that go beyond just recycled content percentages.

The comparison

Criteria	GRS	RCS
Recycled content verified	Yes	Yes
Full chain of custody required	Yes	Yes
Social compliance audit	Yes	No
Chemical requirements	Yes	No
Consumer-facing label claim	"GRS Certified" — broad sustainability claim	"RCS Certified" — content claim only
Required by major brands	Adidas, H&M, Patagonia, many others	Brands with content targets, lighter framework
Cost to supplier	Higher — more audit scope	Lower

The chain of custody issue — this is where most buyers get surprised

Both GRS and RCS require chain of custody certification from every entity in the supply chain for the certified claim to be valid on your finished product. This is the part that catches brands off guard.

Here's the scenario: your suede supplier is GRS certified. Your ODM factory in Vietnam is not. You cannot make a GRS claim on the finished shoe — the certification breaks at the non-certified link. The GRS claim can only flow through to the end product if every company handling it holds GRS certification for that product category.

The practical implication: implementing GRS sourcing means auditing your entire supply chain, not just your material supplier. ODM factories that aren't currently certified will need to go through the process — which takes time and costs money. Build that into your timeline if you're moving toward GRS sourcing.

Which one do you need?

You need GRS if: your brand uses "GRS certified" in consumer-facing product claims; your retail partners or brand licensors specify GRS in their supplier manuals; or you're targeting major brands like Adidas or H&M whose supplier requirements include GRS.

RCS may be enough if: you need documented recycled content for internal sustainability reporting but aren't making consumer-facing certified claims; or your brand has recycled content percentage targets without a specific requirement for GRS.

You may not need either if: your brand doesn't make certified recycled content claims. In that case, a third-party test report from SGS or Bureau Veritas confirming recycled content percentage may provide adequate documentation for your purposes — without requiring full chain of custody certification across your supply chain.

If your supplier isn't certified

Many suppliers — particularly smaller and mid-size manufacturers — hold test report-based recycled content documentation but not GRS or RCS certification. This is a common situation, especially in China where certification uptake in the leather and suede segment is still developing.

A Bureau Veritas or SGS recycled content declaration is legitimate evidence. It's not equivalent to GRS or RCS for brands that specifically require those certifications. But for many sourcing situations, it's credible documentation for recycled content claims, and it's what you can realistically get from most suppliers today.

If you're working with a supplier who has test report evidence but not GRS/RCS, the conversation worth having is whether they're planning to pursue certification — and what volume commitments from your side would make that commercially viable for them. Certification costs for a manufacturer typically run $3,000–8,000 per year including audit fees. For a supplier doing significant volume with one buyer, that's a reasonable ask.