Packaging Data Hub Tracks Plastic Recycling in 50 Countries
A new platform compares plastic packaging collection and recycling data across markets covering about 80% of global plastic packaging waste.
Updated on Nov. 11, 2026 in Consumer Goods
Systemiq and Earth Action launched the Packaging Data Hub, which provides comparable data on plastic packaging collection and recycling across 50 countries. Initial analysis estimates that about 18% of plastic packaging is recycled in practice across the covered markets.
Why it matters
The platform offers a common baseline for comparing recycling performance between countries and against regulatory targets. Its estimate that only about 18% of plastic packaging is recycled in practice highlights a gap between reported collection and actual recycling.
Flexible packaging makes up about 40% of plastic packaging waste, yet only around 10% of it is currently recycled. The Hub counts only plastic that comes out of recycling as usable material, after losses at collection and sorting.
The players
Systemiq
Systemiq is a systems-change consultancy that works with companies, governments and philanthropies on sustainability transitions, including plastics and circular economy initiatives.
Earth Action
Earth Action is a non-profit organisation that works to accelerate environmental action and has partnered with Systemiq on initiatives addressing plastic pollution.
Amcor
Amcor is a global packaging company that manufactures flexible and rigid packaging for consumer goods sectors, and is among the companies that helped validate the Hub's methodology.
Unilever
Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company that sells food, home care and personal care products worldwide, and is among the companies that helped validate the Hub's methodology.
The details
The Packaging Data Hub covers 12 plastic packaging formats and draws on more than 100 public and proprietary sources, including data-sharing partnerships with producer responsibility organisations, recyclers and materials recovery facilities. Amcor, Colgate-Palmolive, Mars, Nestlé and Unilever helped shape, test and validate the methodology through the Hub's technical advisory board.
Timeline
- 2026-11-11
Systemiq and Earth Action launch the Packaging Data Hub.
2030: The EU's mandatory 55% plastic packaging recycling target under the PPWR takes effect.
Market Landscape
The Hub arrives as the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation sets a 55% plastic packaging recycling target for 2030, which the bloc's current rate of roughly 35% has yet to reach. Brand owners and packaging makers that helped validate the methodology now have a shared yardstick for judging progress across markets.
Shoppers buying flexible pouches and wrapped products should note that these formats are recycled at only about 10%, so disposal guidance on packaging matters more than it appears. Households in countries with extended producer responsibility schemes may see better recycling outcomes than those without them.
The takeaway
Plastic packaging is recycled far less often in practice than collection figures suggest, so checking local recycling rules for each packaging type helps keep material out of landfill. Comparable country-level data like the Hub's can help consumers and businesses see where progress is real.
Further reading
Explore more on Consumer Goods to see how packaging and recycling trends affect the products on store shelves.
