Finat report highlights the pursuit of recyclability

The central thesis is, by 2030, a matter of stark simplicity: recyclability is no longer a virtue, but a precondition for market access. As Pablo Englebienne, Finat's regulatory affairs manager, warned, "If a packaging, including the label, is not recyclable, it will lose market access. That’s the reality."

This mandate trickles down to the materials — inks, adhesives, plastic content — requiring them to be seamlessly compatible with the recycling process of the main packaging unit. By 2035, the rule will tighten further, demanding not just the design for recyclability but the proof of effective, large-scale recycling. For the converters now scrambling to test and certify their solutions across 22 packaging categories, the clock is running with a decidedly European sense of regulatory rigour.

Yet, this ambitious future is being built upon a foundation of present-day ambiguity. Francesca Stevens, the executive director of Europen, noted the legislative landscape remains stubbornly incomplete. "There are 40 pieces of secondary legislation still to come," she pointed out, leaving critical definitions in limbo. Is a release liner packaging? What precisely qualifies as "compostable"? And where, precisely, does the ultimate responsibility lie—with the brand owner, the converter, or the raw material supplier? This legislative vagueness, while unsettling, does not excuse inertia. Speakers stressed that, despite the uncertainty, preparation across the value chain must commence immediately.

The silver lining, however, glints in the form of technological opportunity. The so-called 'Holy Grail 2.0' project, led by Jan ‘t Hart, proposes a sophisticated evasion of manual sorting errors: digital watermarking. Labels, long relegated to mere identification and branding, are evolving into 'information infrastructure,' acting as the key that unlocks intelligent sorting systems. With over 90% detection accuracy demonstrated across millions of packages, the technology allows converters to integrate compliance and traceability directly into their printing process.

For industry groups like Celab-Europe, led by Marius Tent, the regulation is not a hurdle to be cleared, but a business opportunity to be seized. Tent declared it "PPWR time," focusing Celab’s 2.0 strategy on scaling circular solutions for release liners and matrices. The challenge, he insists, is less technical and more one of awareness—bridging the gap between the available recycling solutions and the many co-packers and brand owners who remain unaware of their existence.

Looking past the 2030 deadline, Thomas Reiner sketched a strategic landscape dominated by global Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and the competitive necessity of "carbon accountability." Packaging, having followed the automotive and textile sectors into the sustainability crosshairs, will now compete for recycled content. Labels, therefore, must not only be non-toxic and recyclable but fully traceable, capable of providing the data on carbon and water impact that brand owners will increasingly demand.

The conclusion is an unavoidable, elegant pivot: Agility, in this new era, is the new compliance. The industry’s ability to survive and, indeed, thrive will hinge on a seamless flow of information—from raw materials to printer to brand owner—and the collective embrace of a roadmap to resilience, with Finat serving as the unifying platform for this unavoidable transition.