When considering how to increase corporate or product sustainability, packaging is often overlooked.
This is despite packaging having a massive impact on the environment – for example, being responsible for a third of global plastics production, with only 14% of that plastic being recycled after use.
Concern around the adverse effects of packaging that uses single-use plastics and other unsustainable materials has led to a rise in sustainable packaging initiatives and a raft of solutions available to organisations to encourage them to switch to green packaging alternatives.
Legislation such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWR) in Europe has been enacted to strongly promote the use of sustainable packaging, as well as initiatives like Extended Producer Responsibility in the UK.
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) also mentions sustainable packaging as an area of improvement in terms of product ecodesign. The Digital Product Passport mandate within the ESPR will impact product packaging, and DPPs will play a key role in improving the sustainability of packaging over the next few years.
What is Sustainable Packaging?
Sustainable packaging – synonymous with green packaging and eco-packaging – means utilising recyclable materials and renewable energy, as well as sustainable production methods, to create product packaging that has as little environmental impact as possible.
This helps organisations tackle the unnecessary waste that over-packaged products create. Consumers are also increasingly aware of this waste and their responsibility in reducing it, with as many as 74% of customers surveyed by Trivium Packaging willing to pay more for green packaging.
Over the past decade, the sustainable packaging industry has grown substantially, with experts predicting that the industry will grow at a rate of 6.1% on average up to the year 2028.
Research from McKinsey suggests that organisations are increasingly investing in making their product packaging more sustainable, with 75% of companies making firm commitments to transforming their packaging in favour of more sustainable options.
However, the same study suggests that less than 30% are prepared to meet their regional demands for green packaging, leading national lawmakers and supranational organisations such as the European Union to implement stronger legislation to force businesses to take action.
Sustainable Packaging Legislation
To tackle unsustainable packaging, the EU introduced the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD), which addressed all aspects of packaging sustainability, from design to waste management.
Originally introduced in 1994, the directive set target recycling rates for various packaging materials, making national governments responsible for businesses achieving these targets within their borders.
The directive suggested that organisations should employ return and collection schemes for packaging and packaging waste to ensure it reached the most efficient waste management facilities. It also promoted recovery and reuse programmes so that the majority of packaging waste could be recycled into new packaging.
To strengthen sustainable packaging laws further, the EU introduced the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) in February 2025. This replaces the PPWD, transforming those packaging rules from a directive to an enforceable regulation.
While most of the measures within the PPWR will not come into effect until 18 months after the enforcement date (around August 2026), it’s important for affected organisations to take note of the key changes being introduced and to plan effectively.
The changes being introduced by the PPWR are:
- Standardisation – PPWR now standardises the packaging rules across all EU member states, rather than leaving them to the member states themselves to decide on the rules
- Plastic packaging – By 2030, the EU aims to be recycling at least 65% of plastic packaging
- Ecodesign in packaging – Implement design requirements for packaging to make sure it’s as sustainable as possible from the point of manufacture
- Increasing overall reuse – New incremental targets are set for manufacturing reusable packaging with a specific focus on packaging waste-heavy consumer industries such as hospitality
The revision of the PPWD and subsequent PPWR were measures introduced as part of the EU Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), an overhaul of sustainability legislation across the EU to bring the region in line with the principles of the circular economy.
Synergising with the PPWR is the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the ESPR’s mandate on Digital Product Passports, which will play a key role in facilitating sustainable packaging.
What are Digital Product Passports?
Digital Product Passports are a platform for sharing critical information about physical products with stakeholders throughout the value chain. This data can span the entire product lifecycle – from manufacture to recycling and disposal – giving a holistic, comprehensive, and valuable overview.
The driving force behind the adoption of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) is the ESPR, which sets ecodesign requirements for products manufactured or sold within the EU, aiming to create a sustainability standard for physical products.
The ESPR came into force on 18th July 2024. The first working plan for the regulation is set to be released in Spring 2025 and will outline the proposed timeline for delegated acts for priority industries.
The ESPR directly mentions packaging and that it could complement the PPWR. The two pieces of legislation are inextricably linked as are products and their packaging, as both promote ecodesign principles at the manufacturing stage.
Packaging information will likely be included within a product’s DPP, including the following data:
- Type
- Weight
- Volume
- Recyclability
- Percentage of recycled material
This will help customers make more environmentally informed purchase decisions based on not only product sustainability but also the sustainability of the packaging that comes with it.
How Digital Product Passports Support Sustainable Packaging Initiatives
There are several ways that DPPs can support green packaging initiatives. For example:
1. Recycling Information for Packaging
As part of the EU Green Deal, the EU is mandating the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules around packaging, which set targets for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste, making it the responsibility of member states and the companies producing the products.
DPPs could help organisations respond to this heightened responsibility and end-of-life management for their packaging by providing vital recycling information alongside product sustainability data. For example, this could include a materials breakdown for the packaging.
The DPP could contain information such as the percentage of plastic vs cardboard, the type of plastic, and its level of recyclability. It could also contain best practices for dismantling each product’s specific packaging into its constituent components.
This would be especially helpful for products with complex packaging as this data could be provided to specialist recycling companies in order to maximise efficiency during the recycling process.
2. Proving Green Claims in Packaging
A key feature of DPPs proscribed within the ESPR is that data contained within DPPs is to be verifiable and transparent. This will help organisations prove that the claims of sustainability that they make about their products are accurate and genuine.
Raw materials are a key element in product sustainability. Much focus has been placed on reducing harmful extraction of raw materials used in product manufacture and for organisations to switch to more sustainable alternatives for materials such as plastics.
Naturally, this extends beyond the product to its packaging and reducing its impact. The fashion industry, for example, is estimated to use 150 billion plastic bags every year at present.
Brands could replace much of this plastic packaging with PET or HDPE recyclable plastics or biodegradable paper/cardboard, presenting that as verifiable data via the product’s DPP. This will help both prove their claims of using recyclable packaging to customers and to regulators when complying with the PPWR.
3. Reuse and refill systems
DPPs could be used to help facilitate re-use systems, which will be required under the PPWR.
The PPWR strongly encourages the use of reuse and refill systems under its criteria for reusable packaging. Reuse systems ensure that the packaging is designed for reuse multiple times, whereas refill systems encourage the customer to bring their own containers (or use one provided by the retailer) for their products.
DPPs could contain instructions for safe reuse, such as the number of times a specific piece of packaging is safe to reuse and under what conditions. This will allow retailers to comply with the PPWR and ensure customer safety.
DPPs could also be used to offer incentives for customers to engage with refill schemes. For example, a brand could offer money off their next purchase for returning packaging back to them for reuse or use the DPP to confirm that the customer has used their own packaging container and offer them discounted purchases for participating.
Conclusion
Packaging has emerged as a key area of interest for the EU and their push towards a circular economy and achieving climate harm reduction across the region.
Alongside the ESPR, the strengthened PPWR replaces the PPWD to target reducing the harmful effects of packaging waste and encourage the recycling and reuse of packaging.
DPPs could play a crucial role in promoting green packaging, helping to provide easy access to recycling information and reuse instructions, promoting the use of biodegradable materials in packaging, helping organisations prove their green claims, as well as facilitating reuse and refill systems.