How much plastic packaging is actually recycled? A new international platform aims to bring greater transparency to an industry struggling with inconsistent data.

Systemiq Ltd. and EA - Earth Action have launched the Packaging Data Hub, bringing together recycling data from 50 countries and 12 packaging formats under a harmonised classification system. Each data point includes supporting sources and a confidence level.

The platform addresses a major challenge: recycling rates for the same packaging can vary significantly between sources because countries use different definitions and measurement methods.

💬 As Yoni Shiran, Partner and Plastics Lead at Systemiq, explains:
"Progress on circularity depends on harmonised, trusted packaging data. It has been the missing piece for years, and no single organisation can build it alone."

With stricter requirements under the EU's PPWR and expanding extended producer responsibility schemes, comparable data is becoming increasingly important for packaging design, recycling infrastructure investment and regulatory compliance.

The key shift: moving beyond whether packaging is technically recyclable to measuring whether it is actually recycled at scale.

Image: AI, unsplash+