A Perspective Shift for Sustainable Packaging: Takeaways from Converge

In packaging, policies start, stop, and change. Corporate targets and investment cycles change. And the building blocks of recovery — collection, processing capacity, and end market development — advance on their own timelines. But this is the work sustainability professionals are uniquely positioned to do: connect systems that use different metrics, operate on different timelines, and define value in fundamentally different ways.

At Converge, Ecosurety’s Robbie Staniforth illustrated what happens when these timelines fall out of sync across recovery. In Australia, infrastructure was built in hopes that collection would follow. And in the UK, legislation moved ahead while infrastructure development was largely left to the market. Neither approach was enough on its own, he argued: “We need both.”

Policy timelines also shift, but they’re still sending clear signals to the market. Constantia Flexibles’ Martina Wagner said that while some PPWR requirements are being finalized, “the direction of travel is clear.”

In other words, while uncertainty might invite an opening to question sustainable progress, speakers at Converge demonstrated that teams are still preparing their portfolios and investing in sustainable systems ahead of final regulatory guidance and infrastructure developments.

EPR is advancing everywhere from California to Colombia, but no law is exactly alike. Nor should they be. As Systemiq’s Juan Pablo Trespalacios said, “EPR can’t be copy-and-paste.” EPR laws can create an incredible opportunity to align markets around common goals, “But only if systems are built around local realities rather than imported assumptions.”

Of course, there’s an opportunity cost between regionally tailored regulations and harmonized policy approaches. Lorax EPI’s Michelle Carvell called out the challenge for global companies: “Organizations are having to decide whether to maintain regional packaging portfolios or move toward harmonized solutions across markets.”

The tension between regionally specific and globally harmonized packaging policies is probably most pronounced in recyclability and recovery. Speakers Jason Bergquist and Yaseed Chaumoo explained that the days of defining recyclability based on technical criteria are over. Now, recyclability is defined by whether packaging can really move through regional recovery systems.

Betty Brown-Nyadu, of Ghana-based recovery and processing facility IRECOP, described the country’s informal recovery sector as “the backbone for any functioning recycling infrastructure… Instead of running parallel,” she said, “we’ve integrated them into mainstream recycling activities.”

At Converge, speakers shared some hard truths about sustainability’s fading influence on consumer decisions. McKinsey’s Markus Pley explained people still care about sustainability, but they’re increasingly unwilling to pay a premium for it. As affordability pressures mount, environmental impact is losing ground among consumers’ top priorities.

But speakers also offered paths forward. As Alice Aedy said, “Science has the power to explain, but only stories have the power to move us.”

The science behind a sustainable solution matters, but clear, trustworthy storytelling can help consumers understand why it matters and what they can do next. On-pack labeling is one place where that storytelling becomes tangible. Drawing on OPRL’s two decades of labeling experience, Jude Allan and Alice Harlock stressed three essentials for on-pack communications that support consumers: they must be clear — making the most of the split-second consumers spend looking at packaging — actionable, and critically, trustworthy.

For consumers, paperization might be the next test of that trust. As Mondi’s Susan Brunner said, “Consumers want paper packaging, but no one wants to see a tree cut down.” For companies adopting paper-based packaging, one of the best investments they can make — operationally and optically — is a long-term commitment to responsible forestry and sourcing.

Converge speakers challenged the idea that there’s a “silver bullet” — one innovation that’ll satisfy our sustainability goals. As Notpla’s Conor Ludden said, “The future will not be solved by one magic material.”

Of course, the stakes of sustainability goals are still high: in a world where 645 million people face chronic hunger, and packaging waste is on track to reach heights of 434 million tons annually, truly sustainable solutions must support food security and packaging circularity.

As WPO’s Luciana Pellegrino said, “We often frame the conversation as packaging waste versus food waste. The real objective is to reduce both at the same time.” WRAP’s Malaika Oyortey added key context: “The environmental impact of food waste is often much greater than the environmental impact of packaging itself.” Put frankly, sustainable packaging that exacerbates food waste isn’t really sustainable at all.

Regional nuance matters for recovery systems, but so does understanding what motivates people to participate. Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company’s Sonia Ventosa shared how reverse vending machines are supporting decentralized collection across emerging markets — by making collection immediate, visible, rewarding, and even Instagrammable.