That conviction is what led kp to bring together voices from across the value chain for our ‘Inside the Future of Food Packaging’ event, held at the iconic Silverstone motor racing circuit. Retailers, recyclers, technology providers and manufacturers all joined the conversation on how the industry can adapt to evolving sustainability regulations while maintaining performance, shelf appeal and commercial viability.
Discussions ranged from extended producer responsibility (EPR) and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) to consumer recycling behaviour, soft plastics, and the growing role of AI on the factory floor and in packaging design. While each topic considered a different challenge, a consistent theme emerged: the need for greater clarity, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making across the entire packaging ecosystem.
As our President of Food Packaging, Thomas Jakobsen, puts it: “Packaging today is no longer simply about containment or protection. It is about balancing increasingly complex demands, performance, sustainability, compliance and cost, often under tighter timelines and greater scrutiny than ever before. In a world where volatility is increasingly the new constant, working in isolation is not an option.”
Packaging isn’t ‘just’ packaging
The strongest overarching theme of the day is one that kp encounters every day: food packaging is being pulled in multiple directions at once. Performance, sustainability, compliance, cost, recyclability, recovery infrastructure, and consumer trust are all essential considerations. During the kp event, speaker after speaker reinforced how the role of packaging has evolved into something that helps food businesses make confident decisions under greater scrutiny and tighter timelines.
That is precisely the challenge that kp’s portfolio is built around. Whether it’s kp Elite®, our mono-material MAP trays made from up to 100% rPET, kp Infinity®, our fully recyclable EPP-based alternative to banned single serve EPS food packaging, or any other innovation throughout the range, customers can rest assured that kp technologies are designed not just for market needs today, but tomorrow too.
Consumer trust is becoming part of packaging performance
The time when packaging was a supporting player is in the past; it’s now a headline act. This was evidenced by James Piper of the Talking Rubbish podcast, whose talk at the event focused on packaging communication as a live public issue. Talking Rubbish’s audience demonstrates this clearly, showing that consumers are highly engaged, although they are often sceptical, confused, and quick to challenge claims. The podcast’s reported 250,000 downloads, 400-person Discord community, 91% average episode completion, and 10 million social media views show that recycling and packaging can generate sustained attention when explained accessibly both inside and outside the industry.
James highlighted confusion around QR codes, Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) policies, and generic or misleading recycling claims to illustrate that the industry has a tendency to make things complex when what consumers really want is clarity. Technical proof points have to be presented in context and communicated effectively to appeal to modern consumers.
For example, James discussed the gap between recycling data and public-facing recycling claims. Campaigns that count individual plastic items rather than weighing them are unhelpful, because they can count a crisp packet and a plastic bottle equally, even though they represent very different amounts of material. Communications need a consistently clear approach when making claims and applying data.
At kp, this point in particular resonates very clearly. Communicating the data and credentials of innovations like kp Tray2Tray®, which supports closed-loop recycling of PET trays back into trays, requires precision and honesty, rather than marketing buzzwords. The industry earns trust by being specific, verifiable, and consistent.
Regulations are evolving, and the stakes are high
In the week of the event, a coalition of more than 200 companies signed a letter urging the EU not to reopen the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and to implement it efficiently. This only reinforces the fact that the issue of regulations is a live and still evolving one.
Unsurprisingly, PPWR and EPR reforms were a key topic of discussion at the event. Denise Mathieson, Head of Packaging Innovation & Programme Delivery at Waitrose & Partners, suggested that the raft of new compliance standards created a balancing act that many businesses are still unprepared for. While the focus on EPR is welcome, Denise argued that the same focus should be applied to PPWR, given its far-reaching impact on issues like PET recycling.
James Piper also made this argument, using baked beans as an example of how it could affect a staple food item. He compared the cost of packaging a thousand beans in plastic snap pots, steel cans, and glass jars. Under the weight-based system of EPR, he estimated this would cost 3p for plastic, 5p for steel, and 13p for glass, illustrating how weight-based legislation may push the market towards lighter formats like plastic, even where recycling infrastructure remains imperfect. This potentially creates a tension with PPWR, which focuses on recyclability, recycled content, and reuse; a tension that can only be solved by focusing on real end-of-life outcomes, not by categorising certain materials as inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
Preparing customers for this regulatory environment is core to our proposition at kp. Our SmartCycle® technology enables the production of packaging with verifiable post-consumer recycled content, while kp Tray2Tray® provides a proven, commercially viable closed-loop model. These are not future plans or concepts; these platforms are operational today.
