The Latest

  • Audience members watch four speakers sitting on a stage in front of a green background that says Packaging Recycling Summit.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    Insights from the 2025 Packaging Recycling Summit

    Catch up on Packaging Dive’s coverage from the third annual event, including about industry collaborations, prioritizing consumers and the scramble to meet extended producer responsibility deadlines.

  • An arm reaches out of a gray car to collect a bag of food while an employee with blue gloves hands off the bag.
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    NewSaetiew via Getty Images
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    Packaging suppliers respond to QSR diners hungry for a better experience

    Manufacturers are working with their restaurant customers to improve takeout, as well as sustainability opportunities for food service ware.

  • Close up view of corrugated cardboard
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    Photo illustration by Shaun Lucas/Packaging Dive; photograph by Vudhikul Ocharoen via Getty Images
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    Tracker

    Packaging manufacturers set big sustainability goals. How are they doing?

    Graphic Packaging International released 2024 sustainability data, including updates on emissions reductions, packaging recyclability and more.

    Updated July 10, 2025
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    Photo illustration: Shaun Lucas/Industry Dive; Getty Images

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    Tracking packaging mergers and acquisitions in 2025

    Berlin Packaging acquired an Italian cosmetic packaging specialist and M&Q Packaging changed hands. Nefab Group, WinCup and Seneca Label & Packaging all made deals.

    Updated July 9, 2025
  • Exterior of a building with the Novolex logo.
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    Permission granted by Novolex
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    Novolex names new COO

    Tamer Abuaita joins the company three months after it acquired Pactiv Evergreen. He replaces the interim chief operating officer who served through the companies’ integration period.

  • workers at a recycling facility
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    Courtesy of Amazon
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    Q&A

    Amazon releases waste diversion metrics as part of larger sustainability plan

    The company says it reached an 85% waste diversion rate in 2024. Amazon’s waste and biodiversity director, Justine Mahler, says that’s driven partly by organics diversion programs and ongoing data collection investments.

  • A variety of Whiskas cat foods in containers and pouches.
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    Retrieved from Mars on July 07, 2025
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    Mars multiplies recycled content use, but still lags 2025 target

    The consumer packaged goods company also pointed to pet food as an area where it has advanced packaging sustainability.

  • Numerous pieces of waste on a computer screen with red digital boxes around certain objects.
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    Permission granted by Greyparrot
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    4 collaborative projects that aim to advance packaging recycling

    Speakers at the Packaging Recycling Summit detailed how brands, packaging manufacturers, recyclers, academics and others across the supply chain are teaming up to improve how packaging is managed at end of life.

  • A sign outside a building says Packaging Corporation of America.
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    JHVEPhoto via Getty Images
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    PCA buying Greif’s containerboard business for $1.8B

    The transaction includes mills, sheet and corrugated assets in multiple states. The deal comes as Greif says it’s prioritizing polymer-based products and was unwilling to invest to become more competitive in containerboard.

    Updated July 1, 2025
  • A pile of mixed recyclables of different materials, including bottles and containers
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    Solnuha via Getty Images
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    EPR for packaging laws: Dates to know

    CalRecycle published a study measuring the amount of covered materials, including single-use packaging and food service ware, in California landfills. Maine, Hawai’i and Rhode Island all recently adopted EPR-related laws.

    Updated July 8, 2025
  • Styrofoam containers
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    Genevieve Isabelle via Getty Images
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    Where new packaging laws are taking effect in July

    Multiple states are banning EPS foam food containers, and Oregon’s packaging EPR program begins. Elsewhere, there are bottle bill and hotel product updates.

  • Pixelle "Paperversity" educational program
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    Courtesy of Pixelle Specialty Solutions
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    Pixelle, IP, Hood, Pratt disclosed layoff updates in June

    State WARN notices detailed upcoming changes in Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Washington across paper, packaging, recycling and transport sites.

  • Three flags showing the European Union's logo in front of a building.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    International Paper completes sale of 5 European plants to Palm Group

    IP announced Tuesday it divested plants in France, Portugal and Spain, thereby satisfying all requirements with the European Commission related to its acquisition of DS Smith.

    Updated July 1, 2025
  • A corporate building with a circular, grassy area with a statue in front.
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    Permission granted by Sonoco
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    Sonoco names interim CEO for metal packaging segment following death of Tomás López

    Tomás López was CEO of Eviosys until Sonoco acquired it in December 2024. Following his death, the company has appointed a temporary leader for Sonoco Metal Packaging EMEA.

  • International Paper's new logo.
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    Courtesy of International Paper/Cision
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    International Paper to exit molded fiber market, sell select Mexico sites

    The company is also shuttering packaging and recycling facilities in Ohio and Kansas. Thursday’s announcement will impact over 100 U.S. employees — just the latest update in IP’s ongoing North American optimization.

  • Interior of CVS Pharmacy
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    CVS talks store-brand packaging redesign

    Vice President of Store Brands Mike Weir shared more about scaling simplified packaging designs to strengthen private-label offerings.

  • View of Rhode Island statehouse
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    sgoodwin4813 via Getty Images
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    Rhode Island lawmakers replace EPR and bottle bill proposal with study bill

    The bill, which overhauls a previous version establishing new recycling systems in the state, instead calls for a report and recommendations that might lead to future extended producer responsibility and deposit return system proposals.

  • Stack of flat corrugated board utilizing Ingredion's starch products.
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    Permission granted by Ingredion
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    More than a PFAS replacement: Starch-based coating companies expand

    Companies such as Ingredion, Roquette and Kuraray are incorporating new research to meet demand from customers in food service and e-commerce.

  • Two people sit in chairs on a stage in front of a banner saying Packaging Recycling Summit.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    The last-minute scramble with EPR is like tax season, says CAA’s CEO

    “There were sleepless nights” ahead of Oregon's producer reporting deadline, and another “big surge” is expected in the home stretch to Colorado’s deadline, said Circular Action Alliance’s Jeff Fielkow at the Packaging Recycling Summit.

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is seen sitting at a desk surrounded by men
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    Texas approves law requiring warning labels for food additives

    The legislation will apply to food product labels developed or copyrighted on or after Jan. 1, 2027. Future FDA action on labeling would have the potential to supersede it.

  • Two people in white lab coats work in Braskem's Renewable Innovation Center in Lexington, Massachusetts
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    Permission granted by Braskem
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    Inside Braskem’s push to scale biopolymer production for packaging and more

    The Brazilian chemical company’s recently opened $20 million research facility in Massachusetts is part of the company’s broader network of R&D sites and interest in alternatives to fossil-based plastics.

  • Close-up view of flat, stacked corrugated boxes.
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    SafakOguz via Getty Images
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    Containerboard capacity has shrunk nearly 6% in 2025. That may rebalance the market.

    North American mill closures could alter the supply and demand dynamic and bring a “golden age” for containerboard following years of oversupply, according to a Truist Securities analyst.

  • The state capitol in Augusta, Maine
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    aimintang via Getty Images
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    Maine alters packaging EPR law, to industry’s relief

    With LD 1423, groups wanted to bring Maine’s first-in-the-nation packaging EPR law from 2021 into closer alignment with more recent versions of EPR legislation in other states.

  • Six workers wearing bright yellow vests with WM's logo work next to conveyor belts at a recycling center.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    WM’s upgraded Wisconsin MRF aims to capture more types of plastic packaging

    Part of the $39 million investment went toward a film mitigation system, which reduces contamination in other streams. WM also is in the early stages of selling this captured material as a commodity. 

    Updated June 24, 2025
  • Illinois state capitol building in Springfield
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    tacojim via Getty Images
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    Illinois advances foam ban legislation, progresses on EPR study

    The legislature this year considered bills addressing polystyrene foam food containers as well as single-use plastic bags and food ware items. Meanwhile, a recycling needs assessment study is in the works.