Systemiq and Earth Action have jointly developed the Packaging Data Hub, a new resource that aims to show what’s really going on when plastic packaging is recycled by addressing the persistent challenge of having recycling figures drawn from different sources.
The Packaging Data Hub has been developed to show companies, policymakers, investors, and environmental organisations what happens to plastic packaging after use, country by country and format by format. Systemiq and Earth Action noted that when recycling figures are drawn from different sources, they often use different definitions and make it complex to compare performance between markets or identify where investment is most needed.
The Packaging Data Hub draws from more than 100 vetted public and proprietary sources, alongside data-sharing partnerships with producer responsibility organisations, recyclers, materials recovery facilities, and other operators. Each figure is shown with its sources and a confidence level, so users can assess the strength of the evidence.
In announcing the Packaging Daat Hub, Systemiq and Earth Action stated, “The platform brings together harmonised, comparable data on 50 countries and 12 plastic packaging formats, giving companies, policymakers, investors and environmental organisations a shared picture of what happens to packaging after use.”
The first results presented from the Packaging Data Hub show that around 18% of plastic packaging is recycled in practice across 50 countries, which together generate around 80% of the world’s plastic packaging waste.
Across these markets, flexible packaging makes up around 40% of plastic packaging waste yet only around 10% of it is currently recycled. In low- and middle-income countries, recycling rates are around twice as high where extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes are in place, it has been identified in the data.
Further data shows that the EU recycles around 35% of its plastic packaging, against a mandatory 2030 target of 55% under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). Recycled in practice counts only material that leaves the recycling process as recyclate, after losses at collection and sorting, which is why figures from the Packaging Data Hub sit below official EU figures.
In 2027, coverage is planned to expand to more countries, including US state-level data, to paper and cardboard packaging, and to future forecasts of collection and recycling rates, with more data partnerships strengthening the evidence base.
The Packaging Data Hub is backed by corporate partners Amcor and Colgate-Palmolive, who helped shape, test, and validate the methodology behind the Packaging Data Hub through its Technical Advisory Board, alongside Mars, Nestlé, Unilever, and others. Strategic oversight comes from a Steering Committee comprising the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, WWF, CDP, WRAP, the Global Plastic Action Partnership, and The Consumer Goods Forum. Funding support comes from EIT Food and the Röchling Foundation.
