Closing the data gap: Packaging suppliers advance end-to-end traceability

Consumers and regulatory bodies are expecting transparency and clarity about every aspect of the packaging lifespan, from material sources to design, production, storage, and end-of-life. To reveal how industry is responding to these demands, Packaging Insights speaks with Avery Dennison, BoxWay Packaging Group, and Polytag, exploring their packaging data provisions. 

Alice Rackley, CEO of Polytag, says that one of the key hurdles to ensuring accountability in packaging is the lack of data currently available in some parts of the supply chain. “Typically, once a product is scanned at the point of sale, brands lose sight of that barcode number. That means you will never achieve full transparency for that product without change.” 

“Outside of this immediate data gap, there’s also the fragmentation of recycling infrastructure globally to contend with. Waste data is scattered across hundreds of regional networks, sorting facilities, and processors with no standardized way to connect packaging to its end destination. Even when brands want to track their material, they’re limited in what they can achieve.”

Rackley asserts that by working with GS1, Polytag is helping build an ecosystem that enables businesses to gain a complete view of their global supply chains. Brands working with Polytag gain a return on investment and access to new data, including where packaging is scanned and where it is disposed of, processed, and sorted in recycling networks globally, she elaborates. “This is helping to overcome the commercial challenge when it comes to transparency.” 

Mathieu De Backer, VP of Intelligent Labels Innovation at Avery Dennison, also expects supply chain transparency infrastructure to become increasingly relevant, however, he sees regulatory pressure exhilarating adoption faster than consumer demand. 

“The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is already requiring brands to demonstrate recyclability at scale. EPR schemes need accurate data to function. Brands that have invested in traceability infrastructure will be better positioned to comply. Avery Dennison is making sure they have the tools to do that,” he shares. 

“On the consumer side, I think expectations will keep rising, particularly in food and pharmaceuticals, but the regulatory floor is what will force the laggards to move. We’re still in the early stages of that shift since the standards are being written now. There’s still some uncertainty about timelines and enforcement, but the change will come.” 

Data should not be a burden

Andrew Woollard, CEO of BoxWay Packaging Group (Image credit: BoxWay).Andrew Woollard, CEO of BoxWay Packaging Group, based in the UK, says that digital tools are central to the corrugated packaging provider’s agility and flexibility, making transparency simpler rather than adding layers of complexity. 

“That should be a priority for any business,” he asserts. “By using tools to consistently improve our access to material data, emissions monitoring, and more, we improve transparency not just with our supply chain partners, but internally, helping our sites across the UK work in synergy.”

BoxWay has invested in IT systems, production software, and design technology, with the aim of gaining a unique position compared to other sheet plants of a similar size and scale. “However, it’s important to balance all this data with human intuition and expertise,” Woollard argues. “In the case of Digital Product Passports (DPP), for example, granular data is useful in cases where packaging is highly complex, high value, reusable, or subject to strict sector-specific regulations.” 

“For simpler solutions, however, like a standard corrugated box, it’s important to ensure the amount of detail is proportionate so as not to add cost and complexity where it isn’t needed.”

He points out that measures like DPP must improve decision-making and traceability rather than simply becoming an extra compliance burden.

BoxWay aims to provide transparency by providing details about its FSC-certified materials on request, and it holds an Ecovadis Bronze certification. “This is a key achievement for us, as it’s a ‘rolling’ certification that requires businesses to actively deliver tangible progress with every assessment.”

“We work with established, accredited suppliers that meet our own high standards in order to support our customers’ sustainability goals. We are meticulous in reviewing supplier declarations and assessing them against certified environmental and ethical standards.”

Verification from start to finish 

Mathieu De Backer, VP of Intelligent Labels Innovation at Avery Dennison (Image credit: Avery Dennison).Avery Dennison creates intelligent labels that aim to provide supply chain transparency through scannable packaging for industry food and CPG brands, apparel companies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. 

“We’re living this challenge internally and helping thousands of clients to solve it. We’re supporting them with item-level digital identity, including near-field communication (NFC), radio frequency identification (RFID), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), QR codes, and IoT solutions,” says De Backer.

According to him, value depends on the quality and reliability of the data behind the solutions, highlighting the significance of accuracy and verification going back to the source. 

“For an apparel brand, that might mean tracing a garment back to the spinning mill and textile producer. For a food manufacturer, it could involve verifying the origin and movement of ingredients through processors and distributors. In pharmaceuticals, it likely means tracking medicines from the production line to pharmacies and hospitals, ensuring authenticity and patient safety at every step.”

Through atma.io, Avery Dennison’s connected product cloud, the adhesives company says it has connected over 30 billion unique items globally. “Our big learning is that transparency will only work when data standards are consistent and universal,” De Backer adds. 

For Polytag, supply chain transparency means understanding who is using packaging, where it is being disposed of, and where it is being processed and sorted, outlines Rackley. “This information is key to delivering circular, efficient supply chains, and without it circularity will simply never become a commercial benefit.”

“We are driven by a passion to enable brands and legislators to measure things more accurately. Why? Because what gets measured can be better managed, and data will power new strategies for brands that want to make the most of their packaging and ensure it’s being efficiently recycled.”

End-of-life transparency 

According to De Backer and Rackley, recycling and packaging end-of-life are increasingly part of the transparent supply chain discourse. 

Alice Rackley, CEO of Polytag (Image credit: Polytag).Rackley says that “significant” regulatory changes are emerging globally, requiring more scrutiny, honesty, and responsibility for what happens to packaging after it is sold.

“Businesses can no longer treat packaging as a sunk cost or a simple ‘cost of doing business’ to be written off the balance sheet. Packaging is an asset, the material in packaging has a value at end-of-life, and knowing how to influence responsible consumer action and incentivize recycling will be crucial, along with being able to accurately track and trace that material at barcode-level into the waste and recycling processes.”

“Using QR codes and invisible packaging tags, Polytag has developed the only commercially scaled solution that can detect barcode-level proof of recycling and trigger positive enhanced sortation.”

De Backer highlights that in July 2026, Avery Dennison’s RFID tags designed for use with rigid PET received RecyClass Technology Approval in Europe, building on existing recognition from the Association of Plastic Recyclers in North America. 

“The approvals address a practical challenge: ensuring that RFID tags can be separated from PET during the recycling process without leaving adhesive residue or introducing metal contamination into the recycling stream.”

“This issue is becoming more important as major consumer brands increase their commitments around transparency, as well as recyclability and waste reduction. Almost all (96%) of the top 50 CPG brands have publicly announced targets in these areas, while regulations such as the EU’s PPWR place greater emphasis on packaging circularity.”

For the packaging sector, transparency, traceability, and recyclability are increasingly interconnected considerations rather than separate discussions, De Backer adds.

Rackley argues that legislation and consumer demand will encourage businesses to adopt more transparent management of packaging, but ultimately, fees, fines, taxes, and consumers voting for responsible businesses will be what make transparency commercially sound. “Polytag has proven tools to make transparency pay, with the data to back it up.”