New Trends in Sustainable Plastic Packaging in 2025

Loop launched its reusable packaging program in 2019.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Plastic packaging dominates grocery stores and will for the foreseeable future. Environmental activists want it banned. Companies have other ideas. The focus now is on sustainable packaging through closed-loop systems—getting used plastic back into production rather than landfills.

More Recycled Content Than Before

Small eco-friendly brands were the only ones using recycled plastic for years. Not anymore. Unilever puts 30-50% post-consumer recycled content in bottles now. So does Procter & Gamble. The percentages keep going up.

The beverage industry has figured out closed-loop systems that actually work. Your Dasani bottle from last week might be sitting on the shelf again as a new container.

This happened because municipalities invested in better sorting equipment. Modern sorting facilities use optical scanners that identify plastic resins in fractions of a second.

The technology has gotten good enough that mixed recycling streams can be separated efficiently. Food-grade rPET is available in quantities that work for large manufacturers now. Brands aren’t scrambling for supply anymore—they can get what they need consistently.

Design for Recycling Isn’t Rocket Science

Packaging engineers are finally asking “can this be recycled?” before products launch instead of after. Multi-material constructions are out. Nobody wants a package with three different plastic types laminated together. Sorting facilities can’t separate them, so everything goes to waste.

Black and dark-colored plastics are disappearing too. Infrared scanners can’t detect them on conveyor belts. Clear or light-colored mono-material packaging sorts cleanly and produces high-quality recyclate. Simple changes, big impact.

Chemical Recycling Is Gaining Ground

Standard recycling runs into problems. PET breaks down when you keep melting it. Run PET through the recycling process three or four times, and it starts breaking down. The polymer chains get shorter. Quality drops. What’s left is only good for park benches or carpet backing. Chemical recycling gets around this limitation. Pyrolysis takes plastic and breaks it down to molecules.

Eastman built a facility in Tennessee to do this. Loop Industries has operations running too. It costs more than regular recycling and needs more energy input, but it accepts stuff that normally gets burned or buried. Dirty plastics, food pouches, chip bags—materials that would be rejected elsewhere.

Lightweighting Reduces Material Use

Packaging engineers have been shaving weight off bottles for years. Ten years ago, a standard 500ml bottle was 28 grams. Pick one up today and it’s closer to 18-20 grams. The base got redesigned.

Walls are thinner where they don’t need to be thick. Resin formulas changed. You save maybe 8-10 grams per bottle. Doesn’t seem significant until you’re making a billion bottles. Then the material savings, shipping reductions, and lower emissions actually matter.

Refill Programs Are Gaining Traction

Loop launched its reusable packaging program in 2019. They got Procter & Gamble on board. Nestlé joined too. Customers get products in sturdy packaging, use them up, and mail the empties back. Loop cleans and refills them. The model is spreading. PepsiCo are all testing refill platforms.

Success depends on consumer participation rates and logistics infrastructure. Early data from pilot programs looks decent, but scaling to the mass market is different from serving early adopters in test cities.

EPR Legislation Changes Economics

EPR laws in Europe, Canada, and parts of the U.S. make manufacturers pay for managing packaging waste. The fee structure rewards recyclability. Packaging that sorts and recycles easily costs less. Complex or problematic materials carry higher fees. Money changes behavior faster than asking nicely ever could.

Germany started its EPR system back in the 1990s. France just expanded its in 2022. The program’s fund collection infrastructure and push companies toward designs that actually work in recycling facilities. It’s a regulation that actually drives behavior change.

What Comes Next In 2026

Sustainable packaging requires infrastructure investment, better economics, and smarter product design. The technology exists. What matters now is implementation at scale and continued investment in collection systems and recycling capacity.

 Courtesy: www.vergemagazine.co.uk