(SEATTLE April 30, 2025) — Today at the Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s flagship event, SPC Impact, SPC Director Olga Kachook released the organization’s second-annual “Sustainable Packaging Trends Report.” As the industry transitions from 2025 goals to more ambitious 2030 commitments, the Trends Report outlines four major trends shaping the path forward for sustainable packaging across innovation, design, policy, and recovery.
2025 also marks a watershed moment for U.S. packaging policy, as the first of [[five]] Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws goes into effect, and states move to redefine what qualifies as “recyclable.” The report examines these paradigm shifts, alongside slowed progress in areas like reusable packaging, packaging reduction, and the integration of recycled resins, to underscore the urgent need to innovate.
“The days of voluntary sustainable packaging initiatives are numbered as we march toward mandatory compliance,” wrote GreenBlue Executive Director Paul Nowak. “The companies that embrace this shift won’t just adapt to our new packaging paradigm — they’ll create it.”
“Sustainable packaging leaders know that innovation is the only way to weather global uncertainty and planetary crises,” wrote Nowak and SPC Director Olga Kachook in the report. “The time for action is now, and these trends should be part of your plan.”
SPC’s Four Sustainable Packaging Trends for 2025
To meet these changes and challenges, SPC identified four trends in the Trends Report that our industry should embrace in the years to come:
1. Innovation Trend: Refills Make a Comeback for Spirits and Beauty
The Trends Report explores the growing momentum for reusable packaging in the spirits and beauty sectors, examines why these product categories are well suited for reuse, and showcases notable initiatives from ecoSPIRITS and Estée Lauder.
2. Packaging Design Trend: The Future of Design is Not Material Agnostic
As companies from Google to Takeda move away from material-agnostic packaging choices, the Trends Report examines how brands are setting clear boundaries on their packaging material selections.
3. Policy Trend: Material Health Takes Center Stage in Packaging Policy
The Trends Report dives into the increasing focus on material health in packaging policy, and how EPR programs from California to Maine are pushing companies toward safer, more sustainable material inputs.
4. Recovery Trend: Specialized Recyclers Fill the Gap for Hard-to-Recycle Packaging Formats
The Report explores the expanding role of specialized recyclers like Ridwell and Girls With Glass in helping to close gaps in municipal recycling systems for hard-to-recycle packaging formats.
Learn more in the full SPC 2025 Sustainable Packaging Trends Report.
For organizations looking to accelerate their own sustainable packaging practices, becoming an SPC member offers exclusive access to resources, events, and Collaborative working groups that support company- and industry-wide sustainable packaging goals. Join the Sustainable Packaging Coalition here.
For media inquiries, please contact: marketing@greenblue.org
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About The Sustainable Packaging Coalition
Launched in 2004, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) is a membership-based collaborative that believes in the power of industry to create a sustainable, regenerative, and just packaging economy. As the leading authority on sustainable packaging, SPC drives industry action through industry-leading events, data-backed resources, expert-led education, and strategic collaboration opportunities. In these efforts, SPC has built a pre-competitive community that prioritizes sustainable packaging progress over any one organization’s agenda. Learn more at https://sustainablepackaging.org/
About GreenBlue
GreenBlue is an environmental nonprofit on a mission to accelerate the transition to a regenerative, just, and sustainable materials economy. GreenBlue is the parent nonprofit of seven projects, including the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, How2Recycle, and the Recycled Material Standard. Through these projects and their hundreds of members, GreenBlue strives to be the most reliable and accurate source of truth compelling the packaging value chain to construct environmentally regenerative, socially responsible systems. Learn more at https://greenblue.org/.
