Packaging Labels

141 million tonnes of plastic packaging are currently produced every year, with the world’s leaders in plastic packaging consumption, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Unilever, Mars and L’Oréal, using over 7.7 million tonnes in 2021. Currently less than nine per cent of plastic waste is recycled and attention is too often focused on the container’s material to the neglect of the type of label used. Increased regulation around higher recycled content in packaging has led to a rapid rise in the demand for recovered material. However, the availability of recycled plastics is not currently able to meet this rising demand. Consumer brands should adopt a self-help approach which ensures that labels are of the same material as the container. This would radically boost recycling rates and help to establish a closed loop recycling system that actively targets supply chain sustainability.