Paper Clips

The EU and China reaffirmed their commitment to step up joint action against plastic and chemical pollution, including from packaging, ahead of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) in Armenia and the resumption of negotiations of the Global Plastics Treaty. High-level dialogues were held this week in Brussels, Belgium During the policy dialogue, the EU and China agreed on the need to accelerate global action, noting that plastic pollution is rising and cannot be addressed by any country alone. Both sides reaffirmed their joint commitment to advance negotiations on a legally binding global instrument to end plastic pollution, requiring global action across the full lifecycle of plastics. The discussions also highlighted the need for chemical pollution prevention and control, including hazardous substances such as persistent organic pollutants and PFAS.

Packaging minds from P&G, General Mills and Just Born Quality Confections, along with municipal waste leaders and other collaborators, discussed the latest compliance tensions and emerging solutions. -You’ve got questions. So does everyone else. As EPR begins to take hold in U.S. states, questions abound across the value chain. “We’re supposed to be talking about navigating EPR, and I’m not sure that I’m really any more familiar with where I should be going as a local government,” said Christina Seibert, executive director at the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, Illinois. “I’ve got as many questions as I have answers.” -State disparities create tension The differences among states’ packaging EPR laws is a major pain point for brands and packaging companies, speakers said. “Where we create conflict in setting policy is creating conflict for the implementation and the logistics that it takes to make it effective,” Seibert said. “We know that brands are not designing packaging for a state, they’re designing it for a market. The market is national, and sometimes larger than national.”  -Peeping at data solutions Concerns over disparate state programs also have come up at Just Born Quality Confections, the parent company of candy brands including Mike and Ike, Peeps and Hot Tamales. “Every time I thought I had a good grasp, another state would change their goal posts,” said Charlotte Ashcraft, senior manager of packaging and graphics development, discussing her journey with learning about EPR. “Then something clicked for me. I realized I was trying to solve the wrong problem. I was treating EPR like a policy problem, and it’s not — at least not for us. EPR is really a packaging data problem.” -Where the fees flow Various speakers touched on how collected EPR fees go toward adding or improving recycling infrastructure. Speakers at one session discussed an area they believe should be at the top of the funding list: flexible film recycling.

Companies across the paper and packaging value chain are facing growing pressure to provide accurate Scope 3 emissions data and support sustainability claims with transparent, verifiable information. As sustainability expectations evolve, broad environmental claims are no longer enough. Sustana’s latest EnviroLife® life cycle assessment (LCA) provides product-specific environmental data that helps customers evaluate fiber choices, strengthen sustainability reporting, and make more informed packaging decisions. As sustainability expectations continue to evolve, companies need more than broad environmental claims to guide procurement and material selection. They need data grounded in actual products and manufacturing processes. Sustana’s latest EnviroLife LCA provides that added level of insight, helping customers better understand the environmental impacts associated with the materials they source and use.

-Circular Action Alliance, the producer responsibility organization selected to implement California’s extended producer responsibility for packaging law, on Monday hit a highly anticipated deadline to submit its program plan to the SB 54 advisory board. -In the draft plan, CAA projects a California program budget of up to $1.87 billion in 2027. Looking at the next five years, it could total between $9.35 billion to $17.2 billion. -A public comment period is open until Aug. 14. CAA will consider the comments as it prepares the final program plan for submission to CalRecycle in October.

Proposals to reduce forestry activity and increase protected forest areas have become an important part of the European forestry debate. However, according to a new impact assessment, such measures risk leading to lower production, tens of thousands of lost jobs, and higher societal costs — without delivering any climate benefits. A central question addressed in the report is how reduced forestry activity would affect the climate. The analysis shows that carbon storage in forests may increase in the short term when less timber is harvested. In the longer term, however, forest growth declines, which according to the report's authors leads to reduced carbon sequestration both in forests and in wood products. According to the report's authors, the focus should therefore be on maximizing the climate benefits of Swedish forests through active management and the continued development of resource-efficient products and materials.

The service is available to UK-based companies that:  -Have set a net-zero carbon emissions target for no later than 2050, covering Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions  -Measure and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis These requirements make sure that credits sit alongside meaningful work to cut emissions, not in place of it.  UK companies will have access to a growing portfolio of credits across multiple climate solutions:  Reducing deforestation-Restoring forests-Direct air capture-Superpollutant abatement-Lower-carbon fuel insets

Reuse and refill businesses in the Portland area are among the initial adopters of PR3’s new reuse symbol that organizers hope becomes as universally recognized as the chasing arrows for recycling. Since its introduction in 1970, the imperfect yet ubiquitious chasing arrows symbol has become synonymous with recycling. The reuse sector aims to achieve that type of instant recognition with a new symbol launched globally last week. U.S. companies are among the first to commit to using the symbol — especially those in the Portland region, which has a reputation as a reuse leader. PR3: The Global Alliance to Advance Reuse chose the new symbol from 236 submissions from 29 countries, with Colombia-based creative firm Epigrama Studios producing the winning design. PR3 is offering symbol versions with and without the word “reuse” included.

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act faced another year of intense scrutiny, lobbying and more than 30 amendments. The New York state legislature is not expected to pass a contentious extended producer responsibility for packaging bill in the final hours of the session. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act faced another year of intense scrutiny, lobbying and more than 30 amendments.  Previous versions of the bill passed the Senate in both 2024 and 2025, but neither made it through the Assembly before the clock ran out on the session.