New Trends in The Circular Transformation Of The Plastic Packaging Bag Industry As Seen Through Amcor's City-Level Project

Amcor's participation in the Ottawa Reuse City Project, planned for implementation in the third quarter of 2026, enables cross-brand and cross-retail recycling of plastic packaging for categories such as personal care and home care through a deposit refund mechanism, standardized recycling processes, and a professional cleaning system. This addresses the pain points of previous reusable models, such as fragmented scenarios and high operating costs. This practice confirms the core direction of industry transformation-reusability is no longer a niche pilot project, but is gradually moving towards large-scale city-level applications. Combined with data from the "Global

Commitment 2025 Progress Report," the proportion of reusable packaging models among leading global brands continues to increase, with SC Johnson already reaching 10%. It is expected that in the next 3-5 years, reusable plastic packaging bags will be widely adopted in supermarkets, daily chemical products, and other sectors. Meanwhile, the EU has clearly stated that it will set minimum recycling requirements for reusable packaging by 2027, further promoting the standardized development of the industry.

This project brought together participants from the entire supply chain, including packaging companies, brands, retailers, and technology service providers. Amcor provided packaging solution support, Reposit led system operation, and IBM provided data integration capabilities, forming a closed-loop collaborative model of "production-use-recycling-reuse." This cross-entity collaboration is not an isolated case. Previous advanced recycling projects jointly developed by companies like ExxonMobil and Sealed Air, which transformed waste plastics into food-grade packaging materials through supply chain specialization, all reflect the industry consensus: the circular transformation of plastic packaging bags cannot be accomplished by a single company; it requires upstream and downstream collaboration, integrating resources across the entire process of packaging design, production, recycling, and logistics. This collaborative model will become the industry mainstream, driving the supply chain from a "lone wolf" approach to a "win-win ecosystem."

The Ottawa project explicitly adopts bilingual standardized recycling labels and a unified data management system. It also incorporates the PR3 reusable packaging label standard, marking packaging with dedicated reuse symbols and QR codes, enabling traceability of packaging flow and convenient recycling. This feature aligns with the global trend of industry standard upgrades. The EU has clearly stated that by 2029, reusable packaging must provide information such as recycling points and reuse rules through digital carriers like QR codes, and the labels must meet uniform color and size requirements. The integration of digitalization and standardization has not only solved the problems of consumers' unclear understanding of recycling and low operational efficiency for enterprises, but also made it possible to scale up the reuse of packaging. Label printing and digital carrier adaptation will become essential steps in packaging production.

The industry has gradually abandoned the "single plastic reduction" mindset, forming a diversified circulation path of "reusable + advanced recycling + reuse." Amcor emphasizes that the reuse model will complement the recycling system. For non-reusable plastic packaging bags, recycling and reuse solutions will be continuously improved, which is consistent with global industry practices. Currently, the use of post-consumer recycled plastics (PCR) has increased more than threefold compared to 2018. Leading brands have generally increased the PCR content, with L'Oréal reaching 37%. Breakthroughs in advanced recycling technologies have enabled the resource utilization of difficult-to-recycle plastic packaging bags. Combined with the ISCC Plus certification system, the compliance and safety of recycled raw materials are further guaranteed. In the future, diversified circulation paths will continue to be optimized to achieve the best environmental protection solutions for plastic packaging bags in different scenarios.

As a digital packaging printing company, we deeply understand that the circular transformation of plastic packaging bags places higher demands on printing processes. On the one hand, reusable packaging needs to withstand multiple cleanings and reuses, requiring printing inks to have high adhesion, abrasion resistance, and no residue, avoiding ink detachment and environmental pollution during cleaning. On the other hand, the widespread adoption of standardized labels, QR codes, and other digital carriers requires printing processes to balance accuracy and compatibility, while also adapting to the printing needs of special materials such as recycled plastics. Furthermore, for recyclable packaging, biodegradable inks must be used to ensure that the recycling efficiency of plastics is not affected. This requires our peers to accelerate the upgrading of environmentally friendly processes and develop printing solutions adapted to circular packaging.

The Ottawa project covers multiple categories and brands, and the printing needs for plastic packaging bags vary across different scenarios-daily chemical packaging needs to highlight brand identity and reusability guidelines, food packaging needs to balance compliance and anti-counterfeiting, and industrial packaging needs to enhance durability and traceability. This provides digital printing companies with niche opportunities. The flexibility of digital printing can precisely match the customized needs of small batches and multiple categories, satisfying both the differentiated brand presentation of brands and the mass printing of standardized logos. Furthermore, it can flexibly adjust printing solutions to meet the packaging needs of different recycling scenarios such as reusable and reusable packaging, achieving the dual value of "environmental protection + brand empowerment."