Changes to Packaging Design Could Boost Recycling and Support Workers

Packaging design changes could help improve recycling outcomes, reduce plastic pollution, and support waste sector workers in low- and middle-income countries, a new report by The Consumer Goods Forum’s Plastic Waste Coalition of Action has suggested. The report, Packaging design in low- and middle-income countries, notes that packaging design is becoming an ‘important lever’ for improving waste management, adding that mixed materials, problematic labels and hard-to-remove components are affecting the recyclability of certain products. This, in turn, affects the value of recyclable materials, which has a knock-on effect on informal waste workers, who collectively sort around 27 million metric tonnes of plastic waste each year, or approximately 60% of all plastic recovered for recycling globally.

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