The World Packaging Organisation (WPO) has officially launched the Chinese translation of its Packaging Design for Recycling Guide, unveiled on 25 November during the Save Food Forum held alongside swop – Shanghai World of Packaging (which has just rebranded as interpack China).
The launch was led by WPO vice president Sustainability and Save Food, Nerida Kelton, in partnership with representatives from two key WPO member organisations: Li Hua, president of the China Packaging Federation (CPF), and Jasper Liu, assistant director at the MOFCOM Export Commodities Technology Service Center, China National Export Commodities Packaging Research Institute (CEPI).
Kelton said the translated guide will help advance the uptake of circular design principles across China’s vast packaging and manufacturing sectors by making best-practice guidance widely accessible.
“Circular design is only effective when the relevant collection, sorting and recycling streams exist,” she said. “To be able to apply recyclable packaging design, a certain fundamental knowledge of sorting and recycling processes is necessary. Packaging must therefore be suitable for state-of-the-art sorting and recycling processes, in addition to its basic functions.”
The guide provides brand owners, designers and packaging developers with a clear starting point to better understand packaging recyclability, showcasing global best-practice examples and outlining how design decisions can be aligned with real-world recycling capabilities. Users are encouraged to tailor the guidance to regional and local material recovery infrastructure.
Kelton said she was “extremely proud” to launch the Chinese translation, acknowledging the extensive collaboration behind the project.
“A special thank you to both CEPI and CPF for their hard work on the translation and in particular Jasper Liu, who led the project, and supporting translators Guo Zhenmei, Wu Xiaoqing and Melody Wong,” she said in a LinkedIn post following the event.
The Chinese edition is now available via the WPO website, as well as on CEPI and CPF’s WeChat platforms.
The launch drew support from WPO board members in other regions, with representatives from Poland (Krzysztof Niczyporuk) and Japan (Sonoyama San) also attending the forum.
Kelton said the translation marks an important step in helping more brands across Asia become “recycle ready”, strengthening global alignment on packaging design for circularity.
