Packaging decisions are made out of a handful of trade-offs that nobody explains well. These are written to be read once and remembered, and each one ends at the listings it applies to.
A plant-based plastic can be impossible to compost, and a compostable one can be made from oil. What each word means, what the EU says about it, and which one is worth paying for.
Applies to Food service
"Eco-friendly", "biodegradable" and "climate neutral" are now banned on their own in the EU unless you can prove a lot more. If you pass a supplier's claim on to your customers, it is your claim.
Grease-resistant paper and moulded fibre are where PFAS have been found, compostable bowls included. Since August 2026 there are legal limits. A supplier saying "none added" is not the same as meeting them.
Applies to Food service
The PPWR has applied since 12 August 2026, but most of what it asks of buyers arrives in 2028 and 2030. Here is the timeline, from the text of the regulation, and what to ask a supplier now.
Applies to Boxes
There are a dozen logos on packaging datasheets and they are not equivalent. Here is what each of the ones we score actually certifies, and what none of them cover.
Two listings can both say 80% recycled and mean very different things. The question that separates them is where the material came from.
Applies to Boxes
The three end-of-life routes are not alternatives on a spectrum. Each one needs something to exist outside your box, and only one of them is common across Europe.
Applies to Flexible packaging