According to a recent analysis published by experts from Systemiq and Earth Action, the packaging industry’s sustainability efforts are being severely hindered by a frequently overlooked factor: the lack of adequate, structured packaging data. Although regulations are tightening and investments in waste management infrastructure are growing, the fragmentation and inaccuracy of data often force decision-makers to navigate the circular economy transition blind.
Ambitions surrounding packaging recycling have increased significantly in recent years, with multiplying targets and growing infrastructure investments. However, actual progress remains uneven. A recent analysis by Sarah Perreard (Earth Action) and Yoni Shiran (Systemiq) highlights a critical, yet less discussed, obstacle: the fragmentation of packaging data. Inadequate information makes it difficult to allocate resources optimally, report transparently, and assess sustainability projects, causing a systemic slowdown in building a circular economy.
Every decision related to packaging—whether it is a design choice, a regulatory target, an investment strategy, or a disclosure framework—relies on assumptions about what happens to the material after its use. Companies need to know if a specific packaging format is actually recycled in a given market. Policymakers require clear visibility into waste flows, and investors must accurately identify infrastructure gaps to ensure capital is directed to the right places.
However, when these reference points are weak, fragmented, or too coarse, different actors end up working from entirely different baselines, even when their ultimate objectives are aligned. Analysts point out that, alongside material complexity and weak infrastructure, this data problem is one of the primary practical constraints holding back progress.
Why Does Current Packaging Data Fall Short?
Despite the proliferation of datasets, reporting platforms, and analytical tools, core challenges persist because the available information does not form a cohesive system:
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Incompatible Sources: Data is scattered across sources that were never designed to work together. Different organizations frequently publish conflicting figures for the same country or material stream, often relying on distinct methodologies and taxonomies.
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Inconsistent Definitions: Fundamental terms such as “recycling rate,” “recyclability,” or “end-of-life fate” are not aligned across regulatory frameworks. Consequently, even a basic metric like a national recycling rate can vary significantly depending on how it is calculated.
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Lack of Granularity: Available data is often grouped into overly broad categories. For plastics, this typically means little more than distinguishing between “rigid” and “flexible” formats. Furthermore, many countries lack market-specific or local data, even though eco-design choices and capital allocation increasingly demand highly specific, format-level insights.
The Cost of Uncertainty in the Market
As regulatory scrutiny intensifies, these data weaknesses translate directly into financial risk and increased costs for companies. Sustainability teams waste valuable time reconciling conflicting datasets, commissioning bespoke analyses, and defending business assumptions. Uncertainty also makes it incredibly difficult to assess which interventions are actually delivering results. The consequence is a paradoxical situation where an increase in data volume has not resulted in greater clarity.
To make reliable corporate and regulatory decisions, the industry requires data that allows for cross-market comparisons, features sufficient granularity to reflect real packaging formats, and provides complete transparency regarding assumptions and confidence levels. The authors make it clear: no single organization can deliver this alone.
The Solution: The Packaging Data Hub
To address this crisis, the Packaging Data Hub has emerged, aiming to shift the industry from utilizing fragmented datasets toward a shared global packaging data infrastructure. Co-led by Systemiq and Earth Action, the initiative is being developed in alignment with major international organizations, including:
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Ellen MacArthur Foundation
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WWF
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The Consumer Goods Forum
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CDP
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WRAP
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World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership
Designed with a public-good baseline, the Hub’s goal is to harmonize existing datasets and strengthen them through structured validation and in-country research. The system utilizes a dedicated data quality framework that makes assumptions and confidence levels explicit. This supports the creation of a trusted, harmonized reference layer that can be reliably reused across reporting, regulation, and investment processes.
Official Source and Reference:
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Original Opinion Piece (Packaging Europe): The packaging data problem
