News, Regulations, Materials & Market Intelligence
Topic coverage
This tag collects practical guides on packaging recycling as a recovery system rather than a material label. Coverage includes extended producer responsibility schemes in the UK, Oregon, the EU and California, and how producer definitions, reporting data and fees differ by market. Articles separate recyclability, biodegradability and compostability, examine paper cup barrier coatings such as PE, PLA and water-based formulations, and explain the five gates from design compatibility through collection, sorting, reprocessing and end markets. Recycled content topics distinguish post-consumer from pre-consumer material, claim calculation and food-contact considerations, giving brands and packaging teams records and questions to prepare.
Regulation 2022/1616 distinguishes recycling technologies, processes and installations. Recycled-content evidence alone does not establish food-contact suitability.
Companies report higher recycled aluminium content in NIVEA tins. Earlier Beiersdorf documentation defines an annual average including pre- and post-consumer material.
Shellworks and MYGroup announce a recovery route for VIVOMER packs. Reported retail collection leads to MYboard production; no material-specific capture rate is established.
DIC and artience announce shared deinking and delamination evaluation procedures, criteria and reporting. This is a company-developed protocol, not a national standard.
Siegwerk reports a European patent for a deinking primer. The technology addresses printed packaging; commercial recycling adoption remains a separate question.
QR, NFC, RFID, serialized codes and digital watermarks do different jobs. The useful question is not whether a package is “smart,” but what operational action happens after it is read.
Packaging decoration is no longer just a branding choice. Wash-off labels, shrink sleeves, in-mould labels, direct print, laser marking and digital watermarks shift the recovery burden to different points in…
A package can be mostly PET, PP, HDPE, paper or glass and still lose recycling compatibility because of the label, sleeve, adhesive, ink, tamper band or smart tag attached to…
Paperization outside food is happening at different packaging levels. Secondary cartons are relatively easy to switch; liquid refill cartons must still solve barrier, sealing, chemistry, dispensing and recovery.
Several packaging technologies crossed meaningful commercialization thresholds in 2026—but factory opening, first batch, machine order, production-scale demo and converter evaluation are not the same milestone.
Recovery markets diverged in 2026. OCC values strengthened, PET bales stayed weak, compostables remained infrastructure-dependent and EPR began shifting more recovery cost upstream to producers.
A package can pass a technical recyclability test and still fail in the recovery market. This unit-economics teardown follows collection, MRF sorting, yield, transport, reprocessing and end-market demand.
2026 estimates put the global sustainable-packaging market around USD 326–400 billion—but those numbers are modeled from different definitions. This data audit explains what market size, demand, shipments, trade and waste…
California’s SB 54 regulations are now effective, producers already have participation and reporting obligations, and the first PRO plan is under review. This guide explains what the 2026 status means…
PCR and PIR are not interchangeable. This guide explains post-consumer versus manufacturing-stage recycled content, claim calculations, quality, food contact and current EU requirements.
Recyclable packaging needs more than a recyclable material. This guide separates design compatibility, collection, sorting, reprocessing and recycling at scale.
Paper cups can be recyclable, but the coating, complete construction, collection route and receiving mill determine whether fibre is actually recovered.
Biodegradable, compostable and recyclable describe different end-of-life pathways. This guide explains what each term means, what evidence it needs and why local infrastructure matters.
EPR connects packaging supply with responsibility after use. Understand producer roles, packaging data, fees and the questions that change between markets.
