With the EU Packaging Regulation set to come into force in August 2026, and equivalent legislation being introduced worldwide, the data analytics and consultancy firm GlobalData has analysed the latest trends in packaging and predicted the rise of a dominant single-material approach.
In Europe, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste comes into force on 12 August 2026 (although it includes numerous transitional provisions extending until 2040).
In California, a law requires that all single-use packaging be recyclable or compostable by 2032.
Several other US states, as well as the UK, have introduced extended producer responsibility regulations in the packaging sector.
Similar initiatives to tackle plastic waste have thus emerged all over the world, even in China…
Regulatory pressure
“As sector priorities are defined by recycling and broader sustainability trends, mono-material packaging solutions will become more important as efforts continue to make packaging more easily recyclable at scale”, says GlobalData.
Single-material packaging does indeed have the advantage of making the sorting process easier for both recyclers and consumers. And as regulatory requirements become stricter, it is increasingly becoming a key area for innovation and a clear path to compliance.
In its latest report on packaging trends, GlobalData has identified five emerging trends that respond to the regulatory landscape:
• Mono-materials
• Smart packaging
• Biobased packaging
• Hyper-personalized packaging with AI
• Refillables and reusables
Consumer pressure
According to another survey by GlobalData, this time targeting …
