As expected, circularity and the creation of an effective packaging circular economy have become priority number one.
After its first year, HMRC revealed that the UK Plastic Packaging Tax has generated £276 million from packaging that did not meet the requisite 30% recycled content minimum, around £41m more than was targeted. These costs are proving a real wake-up call to businesses that have so far not put investment behind packaging sustainability.
“We are seeing that the demand for recycled material is continually growing,” comments Simon Buswell, Director at Eco Flexibles. “However, it’s essential that we’re not just focused on using recycled material in new packaging design, but that we’re also designing packaging for recyclability in the first place. That’s the crucial step that takes us closer to a closed loop industry.”
Flexible Packaging on the whole is seeing continued growth, particularly while there’s so much innovation in terms of substrates and filling technologies. Within this wider category, we are seeing particular interest in pouch designs. This format is clearly resonating with shoppers that value its convenience and visual impact, and with brand owners that enjoy reduced transportation costs and reduced carbon footprint in logistics versus rigid packaging, so we’re likely to see this demand continue to grow.
“The biggest trend we’re seeing lies in material downgauging,” adds Buswell. “Flexible packaging has typically had a sticking point when it comes to recyclability because of its traditional use of mixed materials – combinations of different films, foils, coatings and adhesives – to achieve pack functionality, which has then rendered packs non-recyclable and only destined for incineration or landfill post use. Through downgauging and simplification using multiple grades of single polymers to provide functional performance, or using paper-based substrates, we see flexible packaging innovation driving new levels of brand adoption.”
This trend is an example of how conversations around sustainability are changing. Today’s brands don’t have to choose between carbon-conscious and high-quality packaging when partners like Eco Flexibles are ticking every box. Eco Flexibles is best known for its value proposition, which is a combination of product and service. The company specialises in helping businesses move away from incumbent flexible packaging designs towards lower-carbon, lightweight alternatives. These are predominantly monopolymer and paper-based flexible packaging designs that match or improve upon ‘traditional’ mixed plastic designs.
“What sets our business apart is that we use our packaging industry experience to navigate the common pain points of our customers,” says Buswell. “We handle all manner of testing and accreditation, through to delivery of the finished product.”
Andrew Grimbaldeston, Commercial Director – Colpac, comments: “Manufacturers are focused on sustainability, and material choices are an important factor in this. We pioneered the use of recycled content for food contact and where appropriate, we continue to use materials that contain recycled content to promote circularity.”
Plastic reduction is still a common topic for the industry, and although this can be a positive step in terms of sustainable sourcing, plastic still has a place in food packaging.
All Colpac’s rPET lids have more than 30% recycled content meaning they are not liable for the plastic packaging tax; the vast majority contain over 75% recycled material.
Colpac works with its material suppliers to look at recycled content across all its materials and will champion recycled content wherever it is available and safe to use it.
“Retailers and food manufacturers are looking for packaging that is multi-functional, that offers a high level of functionality and importantly helps to sell their food on-shelf,” adds Grimbaldeston. “Our Stagione® range offers incredible versatility, across a variety of sizes, styles, and materials providing solutions for a multitude of food types. Its unique style has gained traction in the retail marketplace, with food-to-go chains and major retailers adopting it.”
Stagione® offers an especially sturdy construction which is ideal for in-line filling, and has a wide variety of applications, backed up by food safety certifications.
Shelf space continues to be at a premium within retail environments, and so the shape and suitability for stacking means our Stagione® products offer on-shelf optimisation. Colpac continues to keep it relevant by bringing new shapes and sizes to market.
The sector trends always include reducing cost, maximising shelf-life, and the flexibility to work through all stages of the supply chain, whilst maintaining recyclability.
The development of different regulations across different territories means that customers are not only looking to lightweight and improve recyclability, but to fit these changes into the developing legislative landscape. This means access to up to date and informed knowledge on these factors is now critical. Colpac is fortunate in having a strong team with a wide field of vision from working across the world, which helps them see issues in one region spread into other markets. The current UK focus on PFAS/PFOAS and so called ‘forever chemicals’ is a good example.
Veronique Curulla, Marketing and Business Development Director, Crown Bevcan EMEA, comments: “Ongoing Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) measures are driving beverage brands to utilise more circular formats and packaging manufacturers to work to improve their own product footprints. For brands, this involves finding packaging options that are easily recyclable, reformed and reused, such as the aluminium beverage can. As the substrate directly contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions and the conservation of valuable materials, it serves as a market-ready choice for brands and consumers to appreciate.”
For manufacturers, improving product footprint is more feasible when the industry can reach higher recycling rates and recycled content averages. The industry is currently focusing on a couple of key strategies, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements and Deposit Return Systems (DRS) for beverage containers across the Member States. Recent directives from the legislation dictate that starting from 2029, all PET bottles and aluminium cans will need to be collected through a DRS. Member States achieving 80% collection by 2026 may be exempted, provided they establish a detailed plan to reach 90% in 2029.
DRS, in particular, is a powerful tool to advance the circular economy objectives set forth by the governments and the European beverage industry. Not only does it facilitate the achievement of high collection rates, but it also substantially enhances the circularity of high-quality recycled material in closed product loops. Therefore, it has the potential to increase recycled content, minimise the need for virgin material, and reduce carbon emissions as well as littering.
“Consumer demand for sustainable packaging solutions has surged and accelerated in recent years,” adds Curulla. “Numerous studies and surveys affirm that consumers are not only seeking such options but are also willing to pay more for them. This shift is attributed to greater awareness of the climate crisis, motivating individuals to adopt eco-friendly choices. As a result, the momentum towards sustainable packaging continues to grow, and especially for the metal pack. Being easily recyclable, reformed and reused, the metal pack and beverage can are at the heart of a circular model. These sustainable credentials are compelling to the consumers and help motivate their purchase behaviour. Knowing that using metal packaging, on top of being a premium and robust substrate, directly contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions and the conservation of valuable materials makes it a product of choice for consumers.”
Stefano Rossi, CEO Packaging Division, DS Smith, comments: “We can clearly see a demand for packaging solutions that are recyclable and come from recycled material. At DS Smith we design our sustainable fibre-based packaging products to be fully recyclable and customised. We use corrugated cardboard that is robust, easily recyclable and widely recycled, and in keeping with our commitment to helping customers move towards a circular economy with our company wide Now and Next sustainability strategy and our purpose of Redefining Packaging for a Changing World.”
DS Smith collaborates very closely with customers who are blue-chip, FMCG, and consumer brands to create and innovate circular ready packaging. In 2022/23, the company reported that over 99.7 per cent of its manufactured packaging products were reusable or recyclable. DS Smith is continuing to see an increasingly strong appetite for corrugated packaging as an alternative to plastic in the marketplace.
As a benchmark, DS Smith’s designers have created over a thousand designs for millions of products that eliminate and reduce plastic, and the company has learned that it can make small changes such as replacing plastic tape with self-locking flaps, or plastic labels with print options for direct on to cardboard, and therefore even small changes have the power to make a positive impact on the environment.
“The design and ‘unboxing’ experience of packaging plays a more critical role than ever before and is as important as the sustainable materials from which the packages are made,” adds Rossi. “This initial experience both influences the brand perception of consumers from the outset while reassuring them that environmental impacts have been taken into consideration. Consumers want to see less plastic and less waste. We are finding innovative solutions to design out waste, reduce plastic and waste across all kinds of formats.”
DS Smith has a particularly unique approach to design and works across all kinds of shapes and sizes for retail and ecommerce as well as industrial for automotive. The company is experiencing an increase in demand for Shelf Ready Packaging (SRP) and Retail Ready Packaging, and in this instance, it ‘thinks backwards from the shelf’. DS Smith carefully considers the size of the shelves that the products will be stocked on as well as the known rates of sale and replenishment, and the optimal pack sizes that are required. The company is incredibly focused in on the detail.
Ashley Moscrop, Managing Director of Dufaylite, comments: “We are certainly seeing an increased drive to replace single-use plastic packaging with easily recyclable packaging. Lots of big brands are seriously researching their options and driving new designs and approaches forward to ensure they are reducing their single-use plastics.”
“There is a trend of using more recycled content, but I would suggest the greater focus is on ensuring the packaging content is easily recyclable. Thankfully with fibre-based solutions, the recycled element tends to come naturally in the industry.”
There are definitely trends towards fibre-based solutions. Many people are assessing their packaging and there are trends of interest in paper honeycomb packaging, corrugated packaging, and mould paper pulp packaging.
Packaging waste regulations are driving significant change, and there is further demand for fibre-based products, with technological advances making packaging easier to recycle for the customer.
Dufaylite’s thermal food box liners, made entirely from our recycled paper honeycomb are lining home delivery boxes to maintain their chilled temperatures during transit.
As the entire packaging is fibre-based, they’re extremely easy for the consumer to recycle. Dufaylite has also taken every step to ensure safety and it is the only honeycomb provider in the world with the BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard and has achieved the highest level of AA Grade.
Dufaylite has a fleet of electric forklifts and supports vehicles and plans to invest in more efficient machinery ahead of installing renewable energy sources in the form of solar panels at its factory in St Neots by the end of 2024. It has ISO45001 for health and safety, ISO14001 for environmental management, and ISO9001 for quality.
“Start with the end consumer in mind and make recycling as easy as possible. Most things are recyclable, but will people recycle them if they don’t know how or must try to separate and clean components? The use of multiple different materials in one form of packaging confuses the consumer and leads to landfill,” suggests Moscrop.
“To see packaging waste reduced, it has got to be easy to recycle, and ideally made from one single material type if we want to increase recycling rates, reduce waste, and help ensure the end goal is achieved.”
Ellie Patterson, head of sales, food and convenience EMEA at Graphic Packaging International, comments: “For many companies, the Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) has accelerated the drive towards using recycled content in packaging and has accelerated moves from plastic to alternative formats such as cartonboard, but it can’t be looked at in isolation. It has come into force at the same time as the cost-of-living crisis, and it coexists with several other pieces of new or forthcoming legislation. So companies are doing whatever they can to mitigate increases in cost for their own and their consumers’ benefit. The administration of the new legislation has also placed a significant burden on companies.
“For many of our customers, the conversation is now more about optimising carbon footprint than the need to incorporate recycled content or move to a recycled cartonboard. Following carbon footprint analysis, some customers choose to stay with virgin fibre cartonboard. On the other hand, some brands have made commitments to move to packaging with recycled material for non-food-contact applications. So we’re seeing a balanced demand for both recycled and virgin materials.”
Graphic Packaging International is seeing a huge increase in demand for packaging that can replace or reduce plastic. Trays for fresh and processed protein, cheese, ready meals, and ready-to-eat food, and punnet trays for fruit, are really gaining traction. Even when a barrier liner is required, plastic can be reduced by 90 percent, meaning these formats comply with OPRL requirements for recyclability. Graphic Packaging International is working with the UK’s leading grocery retailers on a number of commercialisations that will deliver their consumers food in cartonboard trays that offer equivalent performance to plastic and are recyclable.
The company’s cartonboard canister Boardio™ is also hitting a sweet spot as an alternative to rigid plastic containers and flexible pouches. It’s ideal for everything from coffee and infant formula to snacks and confectionery. Multinational confectionery manufacturer Perfetti Van Melle launched Boardio for their Mentos brand – the first-to-market paperboard bottle in the gum category. It offers more than an 80% reduction in plastic versus the previous rigid plastic tub, with no loss of structural integrity or barrier performance. This product has won multiple prestigious awards, including the UK’s Product of the Year 2024.
“The priority for many of our customers is optimising the circularity of their packaging portfolio without compromising on functional performance,” adds Patterson. “Innovation in structural design, use of Design for Environment principles, and our expertise in materials science are helping us to lead the way in this regard, ensuring we deliver consumer packaging that delivers exceptional performance and great shelf appeal while minimising the impact on our planet.”
Gavin Ashe, Managing Director at Kite Packaging, comments: “The Plastic Packaging Tax has undeniably accelerated the transition towards sustainable practices and materials within the packaging industry. We’ve witnessed a surge in demand for packaging crafted from recycled plastics and alternative materials such as paper. There’s also greater innovation in packaging design aimed at minimising the plastic usage and optimising recyclability. Despite these positive shifts, however, the appeal of using virgin materials remains due their lower immediate costs in comparison to alternatives so the Plastic Packaging Tax has a long way to go yet to achieve what it set out to do.”
Consumer awareness of environmental issues is definitely driving a significant shift towards sustainable packaging choices. As consumers increasingly prioritise products packaged in environmentally friendly materials, companies are adapting to meet this demand, emphasising social responsibility in their operations. Furthermore, the Plastic Packaging Tax incentivises the use of packaging with at least 30% recycled content, prompting businesses to opt for recycled materials to minimise their tax liabilities. Consequently, there’s been a notable industry-wide emphasis on manufacturing packaging that meets this recycled content threshold. As consumer demand for sustainability continues to rise, businesses are increasingly compelled to adopt sustainable practices throughout their supply chains. This trend is further fuelled by the growing popularity of circular packaging solutions, spurred by the implementation of the Plastic Packaging Tax.
“We’re proud to announce that our commitment to environmental responsibility has been reaffirmed with our carbon neutral status extended for the fourth year,” adds Ashe. “This milestone signifies that we have successfully offset all organisational carbon emissions within Scope 1, 2, and 3, including those related to business travel and downstream transportation. By offsetting our carbon footprint, we’re taking tangible steps towards a greener future while setting a precedent for responsible business practices in the packaging industry. We look forward to furthering our sustainability efforts and collaborating with partners and customers alike to create a more sustainable tomorrow.”
Kite Packaging has also launched a range of thermal barcode printers and labels, with the linerless option offering enhanced sustainability in labelling. Linerless labels use ~40% less paper, while providing more labels on a roll compared to linered varieties. As a result, there is no liner waste going to landfill and customers can benefit from a lower cost per label.
“Our latest offering, the custom-size box tool, which is now available on our website, exemplifies our commitment to customer service and satisfaction,” says Ashe. “It helps customers save time and money by giving them instant pricing and order capability. By streamlining the long-winded buying process for bespoke-sized boxes, our tool provides a smoother and more efficient overall customer journey.”
Vincent Gass, VP Marketing and Product Line at kp (Klöckner Pentaplast), comments: “The UK’s Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) is driving our customers to be more cognisant of recycled content, how it fits into packaging production, and where its strengths are. We have seen an increase in customers asking for itemised bills that show volumes and percentages of recycled materials in their packaging, and this breakdown really showcases the cost benefits in today’s regulatory landscape.”
“In the UK, the terms of the PPT mean that if packaging includes more than 30% recycled content, our customers won’t pay additional fees on the non-recycled content. In Spain, all virgin plastic is taxed, so what we see is that our customers operating in this market are driving post-consumer recycled (PCR) material content ever higher.
“Our customers typically approach us with the minimum amount of PCR they want to see incorporated in the product they purchase. They also frequently ask for auditor certification, such as from RecyClass, which we can provide.”
While PET bottles are now frequently recycled, billions of food trays are still wasted every year. The kp Tray2Tray® initiative demonstrates another path forward by creating a closed loop for food packaging trays, working with suppliers to create a separate supply stream of recycled PET pots, tubs, and trays that can be used to create more of the same. This initiative ensures PET trays and rigid films come back time again as fully recyclable food packaging rather than being downcycled.
On its own, kp Tray2Tray® has the potential to bring more than 50,000 tonnes of rPET back into use. kp can include certain quantities or proportions of kp Tray2Tray® flake, depending on customers’ sustainability requirements.
MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging) case-ready trays are always popular throughout Europe for the protein segment. There is also good demand for overwrap trays in some countries, like France or Italy, where on-site butchers are still popular in retail stores.
VSP (Vacuum Skin Packaging) is another fast-growing segment gaining traction for premium brands due to the shelf-life extension benefits. There is also an expansion of flow wraps, especially in northern Europe and UK, competing more directly with case-ready trays to minimise the volume of plastic used.
“The priorities for our customers are functionality, convenience, recyclability, reusability, and circularity, accelerated by the need for brand owners to achieve their ESG targets,” adds Gass.
“An interesting trend we are seeing from manufacturers is downgauging and moving to flexible packaging as a way of ‘proving’ they are using less plastic, and for many, it’s even a monitored metric in their CSR documentation.
“A product we launched last year, kp FlexiFlow® EH 145 R, is particularly suited to this trend. This barrier flow wrap film is certified by Interseroh and cyclos-HTP as recyclable in the PE stream and delivers full product protection while minimising plastic weight by 75% against alternatives. We designed kp FlexiFlow® EH 145 R to elevate the barrier flow wrap film category in a new sustainability-focused way, and it exemplifies our dedication to reducing environmental impact without compromising quality, product protection or integrity.”
Leeds-based LVF Packaging primarily supplies MAP (modified atmosphere packaging) and skin pack trays to protein suppliers for UK retailers, while also manufacturing packaging for confectionary, beverages and other retail gift packs. The company operates six high volume production lines, has 46 staff and last year turned over a shade over £8million. It also does all its product development in-house and manufactures its own bespoke tooling.
Daniel Coates, Business Development Director, LVF Packaging, comments: “So far, we haven’t seen much effect of the Plastic Packaging Tax other than our making sure we have a minimum of 30% recycled content, which we have had for a number of years.
“We’re certainly being asked for higher and higher recycled contents, but we’ve been using RPET for a number of years now anyway.”
LVF produces mainly protein trays for skin packing / MAP and some packaging for confectionery/beverages.
LVF supplies into the suppliers of the UK supermarkets and manufacture directly for companies such as Morrisons and Lindt.
“In terms of sustainability and environment we are constantly looking to down gauge our products and have invested heavily in solar generation and will soon be investing in energy storage. After that we will be looking to become more efficient by looking at energy recovery,” adds Coates.
“Customer service has been our USP for quite some time now, in terms of improvements we haven’t done anything major other than listen carefully to feedback and constantly working to improve the quality of our products.”
Matt Boyle, Sales Director, UK, Metsa Board, comments: “Both packaging converters and designers are thinking of ways to reduce the plastic content in packaging to ensure they do not exceed the legislation thresholds.
“Our paperboard grades for food packaging include both PE extrusion-coated paperboards and easily recyclable and compostable barrier paperboard with dispersion barrier coating. We are looking into new fossil-free coating options and aim to have entirely fossil free products by the end of 2030.”
Converters and brand owners are looking for materials that suit their specific end-use. Recycled materials have their place but for the recycling process to work on the long run, fresh fibre is also needed. Metsä Board’s paperboards are made from pure and fully traceable fresh wood fibre that is safe to use also in sensitive end-uses such as food.
Consumers are increasingly interested in the environmental impact of products and packaging. Rough surfaces and brownish-grey packaging are often seen as the most sustainable option. However, the colour of the packaging does not in fact indicate the environmental impact of the packaging.
Metsa Board’s Sustainability Services have been making detailed calculations and comparisons on the environmental impact and carbon footprint of different materials for several years and can help customers make smart choices. The energy used in production, the amount of material needed and where the raw materials is sourced have the biggest impact. Currently, fossil-free energy accounts for 90% of Metsä Board’s total energy consumption. In addition, the company’s lightweight paperboards use less raw materials, energy and water, reduce transport weights and produce less waste to be recycled after the product use.
“As consumers are gradually more interested in the lifecycle of packaging, our customers (converters and brand owners) are increasingly looking into the recyclability of packaging and replacing plastic with renewable alternatives. They want to minimise both excess waste and their carbon footprint and have set themselves targets for these,” adds Boyle.
“In relation to this, they seek more information from us about the environmental impact of our products and our sustainability targets. We aim to be entirely fossil-free in our production and products by the end of 2030, for example.”
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