Flexible Packaging Companies have increased the content of recycled plastic in their products to over 50% through material innovation. Among them, Amcor’s single-material packaging has raised the recycling efficiency from 20% to 70%. According to the 2024 data from the European Flexible Packaging Association, the use of bio-based polyethylene reduces the carbon footprint by 40% and lowers the production cost per ton of packaging by 15%. These enterprises have invested 8% of their annual revenue in sustainable research and development, successfully reducing the thickness of packaging by 30% while maintaining a tensile strength of 45 megapascals and improving transportation efficiency by 25%.
In terms of the construction of the recycling system, leading Flexible Packaging Companieshave invested in building chemical recycling plants, increasing the conversion rate of mixed plastic waste to 80%. For instance, the circular economy project jointly carried out by Dow Chemical and Reynolds Group has achieved a 95% utilization rate of post-consumer recycled materials and reduced landfill volume by 70,000 tons per year. Through the digital traceability system, the identification accuracy of packaging recycling has reached 99%, the sorting speed has been increased to 600 pieces per minute, and the overall recycling rate has grown from 42% to 65%.
The innovation of energy-saving production technology has reduced the unit energy consumption of Flexible Packaging Companies by 35%. Among them, Xiyueer Company has adopted a solar power supply system to meet 40% of its production demands. According to the 2023 Sustainability report, the proportion of water-based ink usage has increased from 30% to 85%, and the emissions of volatile organic compounds have decreased by 90%. By using a heat recovery device to increase energy utilization efficiency to 80%, 2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity can be saved annually, which is equivalent to reducing 1,500 tons of carbon emissions.
Breakthroughs in lightweight design have reduced the average packaging weight by 25% and cut material usage by 30%. For instance, Procter & Gamble’s collaboration with flexible packaging suppliers has reduced the weight of primary packaging from 15 grams to 11 grams. According to life cycle assessment data, this optimization has reduced carbon emissions in the supply chain by 18%, increased the loading rate of transport vehicles by 20%, and saved up to 1.2 million liters of fuel consumption annually. The degradation cycle of packaging using renewable cellulose films in the natural environment has been shortened from 400 years to 180 days.
In terms of closed-loop system construction, flexible packaging enterprises have established a recycling network covering 2,000 outlets, increasing the post-consumer packaging recycling rate to 55%. For instance, in the demonstration project jointly carried out by PepsiCo and Amcor, the number of packaging recycling times was increased to seven through a reverse logistics system, reducing raw material consumption by 40%. By adopting blockchain technology to track the flow of materials, the accuracy rate of verifying the authenticity of recycled materials has reached 98%, promoting an annual growth of 15% in the scale of the circular economy.
In terms of the carbon-neutral technology route, the flexible packaging industry plans to reduce carbon intensity by 50% before 2030. Among them, Nova Chemicals’ investment in carbon capture devices will directly reduce emissions by 70%. By participating in the international sustainable development certification system, 82% of enterprises have obtained ISO14001 certification, and the coverage rate of product environmental product declarations has reached 60%. These measures have led to a 28% reduction in the industry’s overall carbon emissions over the past five years, which is 15 percentage points better than the average decline rate of the manufacturing industry.