May in review: Amcor-Berry merger, PepsiCo scraps reuse targets, Top Packaging Trends 2025

In May, Amcor finalized its business combination with Berry Global, and PepsiCo canceled its packaging reuse targets for 2030. Meanwhile, China published its packaging regulations to slash express delivery waste and digital watermarking experts explored mechanical recycling’s untapped potential.

In innovation, Tata Steel launched its steel decarbonization campaign, while KHS and Husky Technologies developed one of the lightest PET bottles for still beverages. 

Ahead of Packaging Insights’ Top Packaging Trends 2025 webinar this week, we sat down with our expert speakers to explore the industry’s future. 

Amcor and Berry Global complete historic business merger 
Amcor completed its all-stock combination with Berry Global. The business merger offers new growth opportunities and yields an estimated US$650 million in synergies. Earlier in the week, the European Commission had granted the two packaging leaders antitrust approval for their business combination.

China unveils packaging regulations to tackle waste and boost recycling in express delivery sector 
Chinese Premier Li Qiang signed a decree of the State Council to publish a revised edition of regulations on the express delivery sector, which took effect on June 1. The revised rules encourage using biodegradable and reusable materials alongside optimized packaging design to reduce waste. Packaging Insights spoke to Hali Tsao, an operations manager at a self-service parcel station in Chongqing, to hear more about China’s growing express delivery sector.NBCo launched a wet molded fiber alternative to plastic.

Multidimensional brand experience: Design researcher talks simplicity and authentic representation 
Simple, meaningful, and culturally responsive packaging design can influence consumer purchasing decisions, according to Chang Liu, a researcher at the College of Creative Arts, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. Liu’s research highlights the impact of visual packaging elements on purchasing intention. We sat down with the researcher to discuss the findings’ broader industry implications, emphasizing simplicity and culturally sensitive customization. Liu also identifies going “beyond aesthetics” as crucial to effective packaging design.

Tata Steel manager talks steel packaging emission reductions and warns of UK EPR price hikes 
Tata Steel’s Electrifying Packaging Steel campaign decarbonizes steel production for the packaging sector using Electric Arc Furnace technology. Packaging Insights spoke to Adrian Davies, marketing manager at Tata Steel UK, about the campaign and the effect of the UK’s packaging EPR on the steel industry. We also discussed the importance of decarbonizing the steel packaging industry and the company’s upgraded facility in Wales, UK.

UK DRS: Industry welcomes scheme operator and urges timely implementation 
The UK Government, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland, and Scottish ministers selected the UK Deposit Management Organisation (UK DMO) as the DRS operator for England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. While large industry players are represented in the DMO, non-profit sector stakeholders are demanding engagement. We sat down with Sarah Horner, UK and Ireland director at Reloop, to hear more about what the industry expects from UK DMO.

HolyGrail 2.0: Digital watermark experts explore mechanical recycling’s untapped potential
The Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0 conducted new waste sorting trials and found that sorting volumes were “remarkable,” highlighting the efficiency of digital watermarking technology for packaging waste management. Digital watermarks’ biggest advantage over alternatives, such as Object Recognition, is their proven effectiveness for flexible plastic packaging and the additional use cases they provide beyond advanced sorting, Martyn Tickner, chief advisor of Circular Solutions at The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, told Packaging Insights.Kvatt supports companies with fostering a reusable packaging system.

KHS and Husky innovate ultralight PET bottle for still beverages 
KHS and Husky Technologies developed one of the lightest PET bottles for still beverages. The bottle requires 30% less material compared to conventional drinking containers and can be manufactured entirely from recycled PET. Under the working title of Factor 101, KHS leveraged Husky’s injection molding technology and created a container that uses 5.89 g of material to hold 591 mL of product — equivalent to the 20-ounce size common in the US.

Pacific environmental expert condemns Coca-Cola’s switch to plastic in Samoa
The UN published a letter to Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, expressing concerns over the multinational bottling company’s transition from reusable glass packaging to plastic bottles in Samoa, an island country in the Pacific Ocean. We interviewed Dr. Rufino Varea, a specialist in marine ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment and director at the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network, about the consequences of Coca-Cola’s move on Samoan communities and nature. 

European watchdog takes Iceland to court over waste management failings
Iceland is facing court proceedings for not meeting European Economic Area waste management targets. However, according to Icelandic professor Guðmundur Kristján Óskarsson, the country’s recycling streams are improving despite infrastructure and sparse population challenges. Packaging Insights spoke to Óskarsson, associate professor at the School of Health, Business, and Natural Sciences at the University of Akureyri, and an ESA spokesperson about the country’s Municipal Solid Waste services and the legal proceedings.Pakka produces home-compostable solutions for food applications with sugarcane residue.

Australasian Packaging Conference 2025: Reimagining design for functionality and sustainability 
The 2025 Australasian Packaging Conference highlighted the importance of supply chain collaboration and building local refill, reuse, and recycling systems, said Nerida Kelton, executive director at the Australasian Institute of Packaging, and vice president of sustainability and save food at the World Packaging Organization. We talked to Kelton about the event to discuss how packaging experts can create functional yet sustainable packaging products and processes.

PepsiCo’s reusable packaging rethink stirs waste management debate
PepsiCo scrapped its 20% reusable packaging by 2030 target. Instead, the beverage giant will now follow a broader agenda aimed at 97% of its packaging being reusable, recyclable, or compostable by the same deadline. The company plans to focus on key packaging markets “where it anticipates its initiatives will have the greatest positive effect,” but waste management associations and environmental NGOs voiced mixed responses to the change. 

Webinar preview: Top Packaging Trends 2025
Ahead of Packaging Insights’ Top Packaging Trends 2025 webinar this week, we sat down with our expert speakers, Edward Kosior, founder and CEO at Nextek, Tey Bannerman, partner at McKinsey & Company, and Alisa Selezneva, senior market analyst at Innova Market Insights. You can register for the webinar for free here.

Recycling in Brazil: Researcher warns of inactive urban waste sector and calls for transparency 
Recycling and waste systems in Brazil are unlikely to reach regulatory targets despite recent infrastructure improvements, according to Tadeu Junior de Castro Gonçalves, professor at the faculty of accounting, Federal Rural University of the Amazon. Packaging Insights spoke to Gonçalves about Brazil’s recycling infrastructure challenges.