Recycled aluminum, copper, steel and plastic carry environmental attributes that could become tradable instruments under updates to SBTi's corporate net-zero standard. Version 2.0 recognizes commodity certificates and chain-of-custody models such as mass balance and book-and-claim, which means buyers may soon account for those attributes in their Scope 3 emissions rather than relying only on separate carbon credits. The article argues this shifts the market from monetizing tons of CO2e to monetizing the emissions profile of physical goods. Recyclers already hold the evidence needed to support such claims: inventories, purchase orders, bills of lading and buyer confirmations. The challenge is turning that evidence into standardized, auditable units without repeating the credibility problems of early carbon markets.
