Beyond the Recycling Label: Salty Builds Better Packaging Decisions With Real-World Data
Global Recycling and End-of-Life Data Research for Zespri
Recyclable does not necessarily mean recycled.
For a global organisation operating across more than 50 markets, understanding what actually happens to packaging at end of life is complex. Every market has different collection systems, recycling infrastructure, material acceptance, processing capability and regulatory requirements.
Over a two-year period, Salty undertook extensive research for Zespri to understand recycling rates and end-of-life outcomes for packaging materials across its international markets.
The objective was to turn complex global recycling information into usable data — helping Zespri and its stakeholder groups make better packaging decisions, track improvements over time and prepare for evolving packaging legislation including EPR, PPWR and wider global regulatory change.
Building a Global Material Intelligence Dataset
The research went far beyond whether a material could technically be called recyclable.
Salty investigated a broad range of packaging materials including paper and paperboard, PET, PE, PP, PS, PVC, PA, EVOH, bioplastics, laminates and alternative materials.
For each market, available data was researched and analysed across end-of-life pathways including recycling, landfill, incineration and composting.
Importantly, the findings were translated into percentage-based outcomes for individual materials within individual markets.
This created a much more meaningful picture of packaging recyclability.
Instead of simply saying “PET is recyclable” or “paper is recyclable”, the organisation could understand the rate at which a particular material was being recycled within the market where it was actually being used.
From Data to Decision Intelligence
Over two years, the research developed into a substantial market-by-market, material-by-material dataset, forming part of the back end of Zespri's software for assessing packaging recyclability across its global markets.
By connecting material + market + recycling rate + end-of-life pathway, the data could be used to compare packaging materials and constructions and support more informed decision-making.
It gave stakeholder groups an evidence base for asking:
Which materials have the strongest recycling outcomes in this market?
Would changing the packaging construction improve its likely end-of-life outcome?
Where are materials exposed to poor collection or recycling infrastructure?
Which packaging formats may require redesign as regulation evolves?
This moved recyclability from a broad sustainability claim to something that could be measured, compared and used to guide material selection.
Creating a Baseline and Measuring Progress
Another important benefit of building the data in this way was the ability to track change over time.
Recycling systems are not static. Collection programmes expand, infrastructure improves, technologies develop and the percentage of a material successfully recovered can change.
By establishing recycling rates at material and market level, Zespri could create a baseline and then track changes and improvements in recycling rates year on year.
This provides organisations with something particularly valuable: the ability to see whether the systems surrounding their packaging are actually improving.
It also creates stronger information for reporting, target setting, packaging strategy and stakeholder communication, allowing progress to be measured against evidence rather than assumption.
Why This Matters for EPR and PPWR
As packaging regulation evolves, this level of material intelligence is becoming increasingly important.
EPR frameworks, Europe's PPWR and other packaging reforms are placing greater emphasis on understanding what packaging is made from, how it is designed, where it is placed on market and what happens to it at end of life.
For organisations operating across multiple markets, robust data can help identify regulatory exposure, inform redesign priorities, support reporting and guide the transition toward packaging with stronger circular outcomes.
It can also help organisations understand where material and design decisions may influence EPR fees, compliance costs and other regulatory costs.
Rather than reacting to legislation after it arrives, businesses can use data to anticipate change and make more informed decisions earlier.
Data Is Also a Change-Management Tool
Changing packaging across a global organisation is not simply a material substitution exercise.
It requires people to understand why change is necessary.
Procurement, packaging, engineering, sustainability, operations, suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and individual market teams can all influence the outcome.
Clear, percentage-based data gives these stakeholder groups a common evidence base.
It supports education, stakeholder engagement and change management by making complex information easier to understand, compare and act upon.
When teams can see how one material performs against another — and how those outcomes are changing year on year — conversations about sustainability become more tangible.
Data helps turn ambition into informed action.
Where Salty Adds Value
This project reflects the way Salty and sister company Velzy approach complex sustainability challenges.
We work at the intersection of product, materials, packaging, operational systems, waste and global supply chains, connecting technical material knowledge with data, regulation, circular systems, stakeholder engagement and implementation.
We look beyond the recycling symbol.
We want to understand what actually happens to a material, at what rate, in which market, how that outcome is changing and what the organisation should do with that information.
Because the future of packaging isn't simply about choosing a material that appears more sustainable.
It's about having the evidence to measure, compare, improve and make better decisions over time.