Sustainable Packaging Coalition recently launched its third-annual Sustainable Packaging Trends report, where it tracks the major trends that are shaping how our industry makes itself more sustainable. Olga Kachook, the organisation’s director, unpacks the key findings.
First things first – what is the purpose of this report, and could you give us a quick overview of the four major trends it examines?
The SPC’s Trends Report aims to help the sustainable packaging industry take a step back and understand the broader landscape that we are all operating in, including the forces shaping the conversations and priority areas of today.
This year’s report outlines four trends: 1) how regions are defining recyclability, 2) innovations in the healthcare and OTC packaging space, 3) how EPR is maturing towards equilibrium, and 4) how shared data creates recyclability clarity under EPR.
This is SPC’s third annual report. What are some of the biggest changes you’ve noticed in the packaging sustainability space since this project began in 2024?
Some of our first trends were more specific to packaging design and material choices – for example, the “paperization” trend and the use of ocean-based feedstocks for alternative plastics. Now, we’re seeing more macro, systems-level trends that affect the entire value chain, like the regional definitions for recyclability and progress being made to understand the impacts of EPR.
Governments across the world legislate on packaging sustainability in different ways, but are there any commonalities in terms of how the successful countries operate?
Successful countries are offering more clarity, more quickly, and the PROs in these countries are working together to streamline guidance for producers. For example, the efforts in Canada to clarify what eco-modulation and recyclability means across the country is a critical step towards the harmonization that brands are looking for.
EPR is a key theme you highlight in this year’s report – what are some of the main implementation challenges for EPR across the world? Are there any best practice examples you’d like to highlight?
A key shared challenge is the lack of clarity on what enforcement and penalties for noncompliance will look like. Producers have not been given a lot of clarity about what this will look like, but we expect that it will be a combination of fees, restrictions on what can be sold in a state or country, and in some cases, litigation (especially in the U.S., where this is more common).
The best thing companies can do now is to understand their obligations and report in all markets where they are considered producers, participate fully and proactively with the regional PROs, and assume that EPR laws will be fully enforced.
Why is data so important to sustainable packaging efforts? What kind of data matters most, and why is this the case?
Without data, conversations about packaging recyclability remain abstract, which is very much at odds with the data-driven reporting that companies are doing for EPR. To better understand the gaps, we need more granular data about exactly what is happening at MRFs and mills, what packages are getting missorted or rejected and why (e.g. is this because of food residue, size, coatings, inks, adhesives, etc.), as well as where materials are going for further processing, and what issues remain at the end market level.
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