Spain: Ecoembes packaging declarations

Ecoembes takes packaging declarations as an Excel upload split across seven tabs, each covering a different part of the data set. Recyclability work in Spain runs through TheCircularLab, which is a separate methodology from those applied in Germany, France and the UK.

StatusLiveLive, declared by Excel upload across seven tabs
JurisdictionSpainEcoembes

What you must do

  • Submit the declaration as an Excel upload in the Ecoembes template, with the data split across its seven tabs rather than as a single flat table.
  • Map each component to the Ecoembes material categories, which are its own and do not correspond one to one with the categories used by other schemes.
  • Hold recyclability assessment for components where the Spanish position matters, through TheCircularLab methodology.

What data you need

FieldWhat the scheme needs
Material per componentMapped to the Ecoembes categories. The mapping is scheme specific and cannot be inherited from a German or French mapping.
Component weightHeld per component, and the basis of the declared volumes.
Composite constructionRecorded as construction rather than as a single dominant material, because composite categorisation differs by scheme.
Recyclability assessmentAgainst TheCircularLab methodology, held per component alongside the assessments for other markets.

What Merchant produces

  • An Ecoembes Excel workbook laid out across the seven tabs the template expects, populated from the same component data as every other scheme.

Common mistakes

  • Building the seven tab workbook by hand each period. The tabs are different views of one data set, and reconciling them manually is where inconsistencies between tabs appear.
  • Reusing another scheme's material mapping. Ecoembes categories are its own, and an inherited mapping puts volumes in the wrong place quietly rather than visibly.
  • Treating a recyclability result from another market as portable. TheCircularLab is a distinct methodology, and a component can sit differently under it than under ZSVR or COTREP.
  • Holding Spanish figures in a separate spreadsheet from the rest of the portfolio, which means a corrected component weight has to be corrected in two places to stay true.

How Merchant helps

Questions

An Excel upload with the data split across seven tabs. It is a more structured submission than the single file formats several other schemes use.

No. Ecoembes uses its own material categories. Material categories do not map one to one between schemes, and reused mappings are the usual cause of misdeclared volumes.

TheCircularLab, run by Ecoembes. It sits alongside ZSVR in Germany, COTREP and CEREC in France, KIDV in the Netherlands and RAM and the OPRL RAT in the UK as one of several assessments a single component can carry.

No. It is one component level data set presented seven ways. That is precisely why generating it is more reliable than assembling it.

Related reading

See this in your own data

We can walk through your packaging portfolio and show what Spain Ecoembes reporting looks like from it.

Book a demo

Last reviewed 2026-08-17