Navigating PPWR & EPR: From Strategy to Real-World Packaging Solutions

Packaging regulation is changing globally.

Europe's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is one of the most significant examples, introducing new requirements around packaging minimisation, recyclability, recycled content, reuse and end-of-life.

But Europe isn't operating in isolation.

Across global markets, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and packaging regulations are increasingly shifting responsibility for packaging waste back onto the organisations that place packaging on the market.

This means packaging decisions can increasingly affect not only environmental impact, but also compliance, reporting, producer fees, material choices, data requirements and the future cost of doing business.

And the right packaging solution in one country may not be the right solution in another.

Packaging Decisions Are Becoming Market Decisions

For organisations selling across multiple countries, packaging strategy is becoming increasingly complex.

Different markets have different EPR schemes, recycling infrastructure, collection systems, material acceptance, labelling requirements and regulatory timelines.

A material may technically be recyclable, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is widely collected, sorted and recycled in every market where the product is sold.

Likewise, packaging that performs well environmentally in one jurisdiction may attract different obligations, fees or end-of-life outcomes in another.

This makes market-level data and evidence increasingly important.

Organisations need to understand:

• what packaging they are placing into each market

• how materials are classified under local regulation

• whether those materials are actually collected and recycled

• what EPR obligations and reporting requirements apply

• where packaging formats or materials may create future regulatory or financial exposure

• where alternative materials, reduction or redesign could create better outcomes

This is where regulatory strategy connects directly with packaging design.

Velzy + Salty: From Strategy to Implementation

Sister companies Velzy and Salty bring together two critical sides of packaging transformation.

Velzy works across organisations, markets and supply chains to understand the system before changing it, mapping materials and waste flows, researching market-specific recycling infrastructure, assessing technical and operational requirements, navigating PPWR, EPR and evolving packaging legislation, identifying risks and opportunities, engaging stakeholders and developing practical pathways for change.

Salty takes that strategy into the physical world through materials innovation, packaging engineering, design, technical needs, product development, prototyping and commercial trials.

Salty has independently developed a range of New Zealand-made specialised barrier-coated fibre, paperboard and compostable film technologies designed to replace conventional rigid and flexible plastics while maintaining the functionality required to protect products.

Together, we help organisations move from:

What does the legislation require?

to

What needs to change?

to

What can replace it?

to

Will it actually work?

Global Regulation Needs Local Understanding

There is no single global recycling system.

For businesses operating internationally, this creates one of the biggest challenges in developing packaging strategies.

Understanding whether packaging is technically recyclable is only the beginning. Organisations also need visibility into what happens to that material in the markets where it is actually sold.

Velzy has undertaken market-level research into packaging materials, recycling rates and infrastructure across 50 international markets, helping organisations understand how different materials perform within different waste and recycling systems.

By analysing recycling outcomes by market and material type, this type of data can support better packaging decisions, EPR and PPWR preparedness, stakeholder engagement and year-on-year tracking of changes in recycling infrastructure.

It allows organisations to move beyond broad sustainability claims and ask a much more useful question:

What is actually likely to happen to this packaging in the market where we sell it?

Packaging Change Is Systems Change

A packaging decision rarely affects just one part of an organisation.

A new material may need to run through existing manufacturing and packing equipment. It must protect the product and maintain shelf life. It needs to survive storage and distribution, meet retailer requirements, work for consumers and ultimately fit within a credible end-of-life system.

That means procurement, operations, engineering, supply chain, sustainability teams, suppliers, retailers and waste and recycling stakeholders may all need to be part of the process.

Engaging these stakeholders early helps uncover technical and operational barriers before they become expensive problems — and prevents sustainability decisions being made in isolation.

From Strategy to Real-World Trials

Our work within the Zespri kiwifruit supply chain demonstrates how this thinking can translate into physical packaging innovation and award winning solutions.

Salty had already developed specialised functional barrier-coated fibre and paperboard punnet and box technology. We identified an opportunity to introduce our fresh-produce packaging technology as an alternative to conventional rigid PET and rPET punnets.

The resulting barrier-coated fibre punnet was introduced into the Zespri supply chain for evaluation and real-world trials.

But replacing a rigid plastic punnet in a global fresh-produce supply chain involves far more than changing the material.

The packaging needs to protect the fruit, manage moisture and respiration, maintain product quality, integrate with packhouse operations and automation, withstand cold storage and transport, meet retailer requirements and provide a credible end-of-life pathway.

That is why testing and real-world trials are fundamental.

A packaging solution isn't truly a solution until it works within the system, and the markets, it is designed for.

From Regulation to Implementation

Whether the driver is PPWR in Europe, EPR requirements in another market, retailer expectations, packaging reduction targets or changing recycling infrastructure, the challenge is ultimately the same:

How do you turn regulatory and environmental requirements into packaging that works?

This is where Velzy and Salty work together.

Velzy
PPWR & EPR • Global market research • Material & waste-flow analysis • Recycling infrastructure • Strategy • Stakeholder engagement • Circularity • Implementation planning

Salty
Material innovation • Packaging engineering • Systems and automation  • Plastic replacement • Product development • Prototyping • Testing • Commercial trials

Together, we provide a pathway from regulation to implementation:

UNDERSTAND → MAP → ENGAGE → STRATEGISE → DEVELOP → TRIAL → VALIDATE → IMPLEMENT

Because navigating PPWR and EPR isn't simply about complying with new packaging rules. It's about understanding where your packaging goes, what happens to it when it gets there, and designing better systems for what comes next.

READY TO TURN REGULATION INTO ACTION?

Whether you're navigating PPWR, EPR or changing packaging requirements, we can help you understand what needs to change — and develop, trial and validate what comes next.

Talk to Velzy + Salty about your supply chain, markets and packaging transition.

enquiries@saltoftheearthpackaging.nz or melissa@velzy.nz