Between single-use plastic bans, mandatory recycled content and extended producer responsibility, governments are driving a global shift toward more sustainable packaging.
Packaging is everywhere — it protects products, enables transport, and conveys a brand’s identity. Yet the same wrapping that once seemed harmless has become one of the biggest challenges in the sustainability puzzle.
According to the OECD, packaging accounts for more than 40% of global plastic use — generating vast volumes of hard-to-manage waste, with mounting environmental impacts and an ever-heavier ecological footprint.
The good news: regulation is catching up fast. Across the world, governments and international institutions are tightening the rules, reshaping the policy landscape to curb packaging’s environmental toll. A new paradigm is emerging — one based on reusable, recyclable, compostable or renewable-material packaging.
A policy-driven shift
For decades, packaging was a functional and strategic choice, largely left to corporate discretion. Shape, material and environmental footprint were business variables, guided by marketing, cost or logistics — not by law. That era is ending. Governments, both national and supranational, are now stepping in, turning what used to be a business option into a collective responsibility. The regulation of packaging production, use and disposal is becoming one of the defining policy arenas of the sustainability transition.This wave of legislation rests on four major pillars:
– Curtailing virgin and single-use plastic, identified as one of the main drivers of environmental, especially marine, pollution.
– Mandating recycled content, to close the loop and create a circular economy that makes better use of existing resources.
– Expanding Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) — holding companies accountable not only for packaging design but also for its end-of-life management, including collection and recycling costs.
– Establishing clear, enforceable standards for what can legitimately be called recyclable or compostable, curbing ambiguity and greenwashing.
This evolving regulatory architecture is reshaping the role of packaging across entire value chains. And while the pace and priorities differ, the world’s main regions — Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Latin America — are moving in the same direction: to reduce packaging’s environmental impact and promote a more responsible model of consumption.
We will see what the international packaging regulations are.
Europe: the most ambitious policy framework
Nowhere has the transition toward sustainable packaging been pursued with such structure and determination as in Europe. With the adoption of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) in 2024, the European Parliament ushered in a new era for the industry — one that aims to drastically cut packaging waste while ensuring that what remains truly fits within a circular system.
The Regulation sets out a dual ambition: to reduce the total volume of packaging placed on the market and to make all remaining packaging genuinely circular. It tightens limits on virgin plastic use and introduces mandatory quotas for recycled content, designed to stimulate a market that values resources already in circulation.
But the reform goes further. By 2030, all packaging sold in the EU must be recyclable at scale, based on harmonised, measurable criteria. Brussels is also cracking down on over-packaging, banning formats considered unnecessary or wasteful — such as single-serve condiment sachets in restaurants or plastic trays for loose fruit and vegetables.
A cornerstone of this revolution is the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, now mandatory and harmonised across Member States. Under EPR, producers are not merely responsible for placing packaging on the market; they must also shoulder the financial and operational burden of its end-of-life management. The shift places both economic and ethical accountability on those with the greatest power to innovate upstream, creating a strong incentive for more sustainable, durable solutions.
Europe’s regulatory overhaul is the most comprehensive of its kind. It does not merely encourage voluntary improvements — it compels systemic change, ensuring that sustainability is built into the design, production and disposal of every package on the market.
Nord America
United States: a patchwork of expanding regulations
Across the Atlantic, the regulatory landscape looks far less uniform. In the United States, the absence of a federal framework on sustainable packaging has left room for a mosaic of state-level initiatives. It is the individual states — not Washington — that are leading the way, each charting its own course toward reducing packaging’s environmental footprint.
California stands out as the testing ground. With its Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (2022), the state has mandated a 25% reduction in plastic packaging by 2032 and introduced minimum recycled-content requirements — a move that has inspired similar action elsewhere. Oregon, Maine, and Colorado have followed suit with their own Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, shifting part of the waste-management burden back onto producers.
In this fragmented landscape, the market itself has shown remarkable agility. Major retailers and global brands, aware of both regulatory diversity and mounting consumer pressure, are recalibrating packaging strategies ahead of the curve:
– Walmart aims to make all its private-label packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
– Amazon, through its Frustration-Free Packaging programme, has eliminated millions of tonnes of excess material by redesigning packages with suppliers.
– Beverage giants like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are also accelerating change: Coca-Cola has launched bottles made entirely from recycled PET, while PepsiCo is testing compostable packaging and plans to halve virgin-plastic use by 2030.
These developments suggest that in the U.S., momentum toward sustainable packaging is being driven not only by legislation but also by corporate initiative and social demand. Business, in many cases, is leading where policymakers lag behind.
Canada: a tough line on single-use plastics
Canada, by contrast, has opted for clarity and rigour. From 2025, the SOR/2022-138 regulation will take effect, banning nearly all single-use plastic products, from bags and cutlery to takeout containers. The measure marks a decisive break with the past, forcing industry-wide reassessment of packaging materials and design.
The regulation doesn’t just target obvious sources of plastic waste. It also sets strict criteria for what may be called “compostable”, allowing only third-party–certified solutions that can prove real biodegradability and environmental safety. Certain controversial materials — including PFAS, PVC, and polystyrene — are explicitly excluded from compostable packaging, on the grounds that they undermine the goals of a genuinely sustainable transition.
The result is one of the toughest packaging policy frameworks in the world, and one that could soon serve as a model for other nations.
When compared with the U.S., Canada’s approach is almost the opposite — more European in spirit. While the United States operates under a patchwork of state-level initiatives,
Ottawa has chosen national uniformity and legal certainty. The contrast is stark: where American firms navigate a puzzle of overlapping rules, Canada provides a single, predictable framework. The message is clear — a sustainable packaging future demands consistency as much as innovation.
Asia-Pacific: between tightening rules and environmental emergencies
The Asia-Pacific region has become one of the epicentres of the global fight against plastic pollution. Here, explosive consumption growth collides with underdeveloped waste-management systems — turning the issue of sustainable packaging into a challenge that is as social and economic as it is environmental.
In China, the world’s largest producer of plastics, the government has adopted a gradual but firm strategy: phased bans on selected single-use plastics, incentives for recycled materials, and mandatory recycled-content targets. At the same time, Beijing enforces strict controls on food-contact materials, ensuring that packaging meets both environmental and health standards.
Japan, long known for its precision and quality culture, has built a dual-track strategy. On one side, meticulous regulation governs the safety and composition of food packaging; on the other, a steady rollout of waste-reduction and recyclability measures aims to reduce overall material use and drive circularity.
India took a decisive step in 2022 by banning a wide range of single-use plastics, accompanied by rigorous EPR requirements for manufacturers. Retail and food sectors have been particularly affected, forcing brands and distribution chains to rethink their entire packaging systems.
Australia, too, has embraced a national target: by 2025, the majority of packaging on the market must be recyclable or reusable. The policy seeks to transform the whole value chain — from material suppliers to consumers — into an integrated sustainability effort.
Across Southeast Asia, the pace is uneven but the trend unmistakable. Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore are all moving toward restrictions on single-use plastics and the implementation of EPR schemes, though at varying stages. Here, the combination of public pressure and ecological urgency — particularly the pollution of coastal and marine ecosystems — is driving regulatory momentum that was unthinkable just a few years ago.
Overall, the Asia-Pacific region is a fast-evolving laboratory: diverse in approach and timing, but united by the recognition that packaging systems must be reimagined in the face of an escalating environmental crisis.
Latin America and Africa: experimentation and challenge
In Latin America, packaging regulation is still emerging, but several countries have taken pioneering steps. Chile leads the way with one of the region’s most advanced Extended Producer Responsibility laws, which explicitly includes packaging and serves as a benchmark for neighbouring nations.
Elsewhere — in Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina — the focus has been on phasing out single-use plastics through targeted bans and incentive-based recycling policies. These measures aim to strengthen fragile waste-management systems and build a foundation for a more circular economy.
Africa, too, offers striking examples of early leadership. Rwanda, which banned single-use plastics as early as 2008, is often hailed as a global case study of decisive policy action. Kenya and South Africa have followed with similar legislation in recent years, seeking to balance economic growth with environmental protection.
Across both continents, progress remains uneven — shaped by infrastructure gaps and governance challenges — yet the direction is clear. The shift toward responsible consumption and lower-impact packaging is gaining traction, even in the most complex environments.
Toward a common global language?
The global map of packaging regulation reveals a world in motion. Each region advances with its own tools, timelines and priorities: Europe leads with its ambitious, binding framework; the United States experiments with state-level mosaics; Canada adopts clarity and stringency; Asia-Pacific responds to ecological emergencies with hybrid strategies; and Latin America and Africa demonstrate that even in challenging contexts, innovation and political will can drive real progress.
What unites these regions is a growing awareness that packaging is no longer a technical or marketing detail — it is a core lever of sustainability. Legislation is accelerating the shift, compelling companies and consumers alike to rethink habits, supply chains, and materials.
The picture may still appear fragmented, but momentum is building toward global convergence. Ongoing negotiations for a UN Global Plastics Treaty and the gradual alignment of standards point toward a future in which shared rules could underpin a more responsible global market.
The challenge is complex, but the direction is set: to make packaging part of the solution, not the problem, in building a truly circular economy.
For businesses, this means rethinking design, materials, and consumption models. For consumers, it signals new habits — and a greater awareness of their role in shaping a sustainable future. In both cases, regulation is no longer a constraint, but a catalyst for innovation, transparency, and competitiveness.
