The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) finally kicked in on 12 August, marking a significant change for businesses operating in the plastics packaging sector.
The regulation sets requirements covering packaging manufacture and composition, recyclability, reuse and waste reduction, with all packaging required to be recyclable by 2030 and certain single-use formats due to be banned where alternatives are available.
The new rules establish a harmonised framework across the EU, replacing fragmented national requirements and covering the packaging lifecycle.
The move comes as EU figures indicate packaging waste could increase by 19 per cent by 2030, with plastics packaging waste potentially rising by 46 per cent without further action.
EPR faces resistance
The introduction of the PPWR comes amid continued debate over how packaging waste should be managed elsewhere. In the US, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Colorado’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme.
It argues that the law improperly delegates fee-setting powers to Circular Action Alliance and restricts businesses’ ability to challenge assessments.
The Colorado case is the third state legal challenge involving NAW, following action concerning structurally similar EPR arrangements in Oregon and California. In February, a federal court granted NAW members preliminary injunctive relief over enforcement of Oregon’s EPR law.
Chemical recycling has also faced mixed fortunes in the past few weeks. Carbios has confirmed another delay to its planned PET chemical recycling plant in Longlaville, France, after it became clear that the company would not meet its target of achieving financial close by 30 September.
The production start date had already been moved to the first half of 2028, although several banking partners have secured approval from their credit committees.
In West Virginia, meanwhile, Clean-Seas West Virginia has received an Air Quality Permit for its planned 50-tonne-per-day plastics pyrolysis facility in Belle. The project has faced criticism from the Ohio River Valley Institute, which has raised concerns over pollution safeguards, the company’s financial position and previous delays to the development.
Recycling under pressure
The challenges of recycling hard-to-manage plastics were also highlighted this month by Hefty’s decision to phase out its ReNew programme in the US.
The scheme used orange bags to collect materials not normally accepted through household recycling, but Hefty said the infrastructure needed to manage such a broad range of materials had not developed at the expected pace.
The programme provided collection opportunities to more than 2.3 million households and diverted more than 3,500t of material from landfill. Collection will continue until June 2027 before the programme is wound down.
Elsewhere, progress on recycled content is continuing, with Asahi Beverages switching its Australian soft drink bottles to 100 per cent rPET. This means about 350 million bottles produced in Australia each year are now made from rPET.
The company said investment in deposit return schemes and two domestic PET recycling facilities had helped provide the recycled material required.
Recycled content improvement
PepsiCo also reported an increase in recycled content in its primary plastics packaging, from 15 per cent in 2024 to 18 per cent in 2025. Virgin plastics use fell by 6 per cent during the year, while the company’s revised target is to reach at least 40 per cent recycled content in plastics packaging by 2035 or sooner.
Packaging innovation continues beyond recycled content. Researchers at the University of Surrey have developed a polymer that turns into a gas at 90°C before reforming into the original material when cooled.
The researchers demonstrated potential applications including removable waterproof coatings and purification of contaminated polymer samples, describing the work as a proof of concept for a new class of circular materials.
Researchers at Kyushu University in Japan have taken a different approach to packaging functionality, developing a flexible hydrogel film that changes colour as food begins to spoil. The biodegradable material uses natural anthocyanin pigments and can also repair cuts, with the researchers finding that it recovered 99 per cent of its tensile strength within two hours.
New approaches emerge
In more conventional packaging developments, ExxonMobil Signature Polymers and Chinese converter LD Pack have created a mono-material PE structure for frozen food packaging.
Testing at minus 30°C produced 100 per cent bag drop survival from a height of 3m, while the structure also showed improved tensile strength and needle puncture resistance compared with a BOPET//PE laminate.
The shift towards more recyclable structures is also being reflected in industry initiatives. The US Plastics Pact has removed expanded polystyrene (EPS) transport packaging from its Problematic & Unnecessary Materials List after evidence showed that the material had achieved a recycling rate of at least 30 per cent.
The decision applies specifically to EPS transport packaging rather than EPS or PS more broadly.
Meanwhile, Mainetti has launched a flexible packaging portfolio covering nine material options for retail and apparel applications. The M-Film range includes recyclable plastics, bio-based PE, rLDPE, Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper and water-soluble film.
Tracking the packaging journey
The industry is also looking at ways to better understand what happens to packaging after use.
Aldi and Arla Foods have launched an eight-week trial using UV tagging to track milk bottles through collection and recycling, with data from detection units at materials recovery facilities intended to provide greater visibility of packaging movements through the recycling system.
At the production stage, Blow Moulding Technologies has highlighted another less visible challenge. Its research found that PET preforms can pass conventional quality checks while still behaving differently during stretch blow moulding, with variations in temperature behaviour affecting bottle production.
The issue could become increasingly important as manufacturers introduce higher levels of rPET and other alternative materials.
The month also brought movement in the packaging supply chain, with Truvant acquiring New Jersey-based Multi-Pak Packaging. The deal brings Multi-Pak into Truvant’s network of six campuses across North America and Europe, while the company will continue operating from its West Caldwell facility.
And finally…
Kraft Heinz has introduced a customisable PP closure for Heinz ketchup that lets consumers control how much sauce comes out with a twist of the lid.
The ‘Love Lid’ has three settings, ‘Like’, ‘Love’ and ‘Crazy Love’, with a click marking each change. Inspired by online debates over the ‘right’ amount of ketchup, the closure is currently available in the US and UK as part of a limited grilling-season bundle. Heinz has certainly put a new twist on ketchup.
