The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis.
It’s no surprise that 2025 has been a year of fluctuation for corporate sustainability. The era of “by 2025” commitments is coming to an end, without clear consensus on what will come next. And for sustainable packaging, the shifting winds of state-by-state Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws paired with a stalled global plastics treaty have left many wondering what exactly it will take to keep up, let alone get ahead.
Uncertainty: A large roadblock for sustainable packaging
The list of unknowns for the packaging industry is long. Looming largest on the horizon is the EU’s comprehensive and ambitious packaging law, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). The PPWR will standardize EPR (policies that shift the cost of material recovery from consumers to producers) and its fees, recyclability, recycled content, material minimization (also known as source reduction) and conformity with design guidance. Although the first legally binding PPWR measures are set to go online in August 2026, many companies doubt this will happen without major compliance shifts or evolving targets for sustainable packaging, and a “wait-and-see” mindset is taking hold.
In the U.S., the seven states with EPR laws for packaging are all in varying stages of rulemaking and early implementation. It remains unclear how significant the required fees will be, whether these laws will face legal challenges and whether states will succeed in harmonizing their targets and requirements.
And regardless of geography, everyone is grappling with questions about the performance capabilities of materials such as bioplastics or paper options, the cost of recycled content, the stability of recycling end markets and which materials, ultimately, are “better.”
Navigating future unknowns
What are leading global companies doing in the face of all this uncertainty? At the Sustainable Packaging Summit in November, Europe’s largest sustainable packaging conference, they showed they’re taking clear positions — building robust, comprehensive strategies that move them closer to their circularity objectives.
Take Mars, with its large portfolio of pet food in currently unrecyclable plastic packaging. Under the PPWR, state EPR laws and possible global plastics restrictions, the challenges with recyclability in their portfolio are a clear liability. That’s why the global giant has taken a leading role working towards better collection of plastic with initiatives such as the U.S. Flexible Film Initiative, the Sustainability Investment Fund, and the Flexible Plastic Fund, to advance the collection and circularity of packaging across the U.K. Through these efforts, the company is walking the walk — investing in a future where flexible plastic packaging and films are widely recycled.
Avery Dennison, a global materials science and manufacturing company specializing in labels, RFID solutions and tapes, is also taking proactive steps to be an industry leader in sustainable packaging. Its sustainably optimized labels are key to improving the quality of recycled plastics. That’s because when labels such as Avery Dennison’s “cleanly” separate from packaging during normal recycling processes, they reduce contamination and ensure that recycled packaging materials make it to their next life. Additionally, the company’s other packaging technologies enable reusable packaging solutions by ensuring packaging and labels either separate cleanly or stay intact through dozens of washes.
3 things your organization can do
What can other companies learn from these efforts? Both Mars and Avery Dennison are addressing the uncertainty head-on, driving the innovation and infrastructure solutions they’ll need to navigate the next decade of packaging sustainability. Here’s how others can start to do the same:
- Calculate the risk of the status quo: While analysis paralysis can trap organizations in their current position, doing nothing can actually be the riskiest choice of all. Consider the costs to your business if nothing changes. For example, what it would mean financially if your flexible film packaging continues to go uncollected and unrecycled and is ultimately prohibited from sale in several U.S. states or even across the entire EU? With the risks clearly outlined, failing to take major action becomes increasingly untenable.
- Make packaging a board-level discussion: With calculated risks in hand, it’s time to bring these costs to the highest level of relevant leadership within your organization. Packaging is no longer just an environmental issue and EPR laws are overhauling business as usual. A board of directors or C-suite leaders needs to understand the EPR fees they’ll pay for their packaging portfolios, see the size of opportunity to cut fees by moving towards different materials and talk through the short-term challenge of unstable recycling markets or higher recycled content costs.
- Set your own certainty: Perhaps the most powerful way to move through external uncertainty is to commit fully to a path forward that sets you up for success, no matter the variables. Start by assuming that all packaging regulations will remain as strict as, if not stricter than, they’re written today. Plan for a significant ratcheting-up of packaging fees, particularly for difficult-to-recycle packaging, as well as penalties for inaction or compliance. Assume a sizable investment in recycling infrastructure will be needed, and that your company will be part of the group paying for it. By setting your own certainty, you’ll be building a strategy that puts you in the driver’s seat.
Uncertainty cast a shadow over the sustainable packaging landscape of 2025. Yet the smartest global companies are dropping the wait-and-see approach for an anticipate-and-act strategy, building new business models, material innovations and infrastructure solutions.
