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In a circular economy, materials loop back into production rather than going to landfill. But this creates an accounting challenge: if a product uses recycled material, and that same material is later recycled again, who gets credit for the environmental benefit? The EU’s Circular Footprint Formula (CFF) answers this question with a clear, standardised method — and it sits at the heart of how Målbar handles recycled materials in PEF-compliant calculations.

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The core problem CFF solves

When recycled materials are used in production, there is a real environmental benefit — less virgin material needs to be extracted and processed. But if both the product that supplied the recycled material and the product that uses it each claimed the full benefit, the same benefit would be counted twice across the system. The CFF prevents double-counting by dividing the benefit fairly between the two products.
The Circular Footprint Formula is developed by the European Commission and is a mandatory part of PEF methodology.

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How the CFF splits the benefit

The CFF determines that the environmental benefit of recycled content must be split into two portions:

Credit for using recycled material

A portion of the benefit is given to the product that uses recycled material as an input — reflecting the avoided burden of extracting virgin material.

Credit for being recycled at end-of-life

A portion of the benefit is given to the product that is recycled at end-of-life — reflecting the value of making that material available for the next life cycle.
This split means no single product claims the entire environmental saving. Instead, the benefit is shared across the supply chain in proportion to the contribution each product makes.

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What this means in practice

The CFF applies in two phases of a product’s life:
  1. Production phase — if your product incorporates recycled materials, you receive a partial credit for the avoided virgin material burden.
  2. End-of-life phase — if your product is designed to be recycled (and is actually recycled), you receive a partial credit for the material you return to the system.
Designing for recyclability at end-of-life doesn’t just reduce waste — it also improves your product’s LCA score through the CFF credit. This is one concrete way circular design choices show up in Målbar’s calculations.

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CFF and the waste hierarchy

The CFF works in conjunction with the waste hierarchy and end-of-life modelling. A product that uses recycled inputs and is designed for recycling at end-of-life benefits from credits in both phases — incentivising circularity across the full life cycle.
The CFF is applied automatically in Målbar when you model recycled material inputs or specify end-of-life recycling scenarios. You do not need to calculate the allocation manually.

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Download the illustration

Circular Footprint Formula illustration (PDF)

Download the Målbar Academy step-by-step visual explainer for the CFF.