The World Packaging Organisation (WPO) has released its 2025 Sustainability Country Perspectives report, outlining global efforts and challenges in packaging sustainability and waste management.
The report, made available during the WPO Sustainability & Save Food working group meeting at interpack, examines initiatives such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), recycling programs, single-use plastics regulations, and certified compostable packaging standards across member countries.
It focuses on the role of packaging in reducing food waste, alongside the need to balance packaging functionality with environmental impact.
WPO vice president Nerida Kelton said the report was “extremely well-supported by WPO Members across the globe” and “provides a comprehensive overview of global sustainability efforts in packaging and waste management”.
Key themes include global collaboration across the packaging value chain, country-specific sustainability efforts, and the relationship between packaging design and food waste reduction.
The report also identifies barriers to achieving collection, sortation, recycling and reprocessing goals. These include a lack of infrastructure, funding challenges, human behaviour, weak government regulations, limited supply chain collaboration, economic constraints, technological gaps, and low levels of public education and awareness.
According to the report, addressing these barriers requires coordinated efforts across governments, industries, and communities, including infrastructure development, policy enforcement, technological improvements, and education initiatives.
Kelton said the WPO aims to address these gaps by supporting members with access to resources, including reports, training, best practice examples, the Global Packaging Design for Recycling Guide, and waste stream mapping tools.
“The Sustainability Survey is an important resource for not only WPO Members, but also the wider industry across the world. The results will assist global discussions and to also better understand the lens of each of our Member countries,” Kelton said.
The WPO also acknowledged Jenna Savin, who developed the survey questionnaire through an internship program with the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) as part of her Bachelor of Business Management with a major in Sustainability Studies at the University of Queensland.
