Return and refill: Driving innovation in Latin America’s sustainable packaging

We continue our conversation with experts from Amcor Latin America, the regional beverage giant AJE Group Colombia and Greenback Recycling Technologies, as we look at packaging concepts and trends driving innovation in the region.

“Companies in Latin America are demonstrating significant adaptability to regulatory changes, albeit not without challenges,” Armando Russi, public affairs and sustainability manager at AJE Group Colombia and executive president of the International Chamber of Climate Business, tells Packaging Insights. 

“Many have embraced eco-design, redesigning their packaging to make it lighter, recyclable, or even compostable. In Colombia and Brazil, major corporations are investing in advanced technology to produce food-grade rPET, aligning with local legal requirements.”

Mariano Herrera, product development, innovation and project management office director for Amcor Latin America, adds: “Sustainability has become a priority for consumers and companies. Amcor’s packaging design and manufacturing capabilities play an important role. Reduce, reuse, recycle. The common mantra in the US adds two Rs in Latin America: return and refill.”  

Carlos Ludlow-Palafox, the chief technology officer and co-founder of the UK-based Greenback Recycling Technologies and an expert on Latin America, states that one important operational shift emerging from the region is the ability to question commonly held beliefs about how the packaging and recycling industries “should” work.

“Employees for international businesses based in Latin America can make a difference when the headquarters in the US or Europe say, ‘We need to do this and this and that.’ Turn around and say, ‘Dude, you’re crazy; that’s not going to work.’ Even if something may have worked in Europe, it doesn’t mean it’s ever going to work in Latin America. Local employees should be able to explain why such a solution would not be applicable to the local context.”

RefPET bottle and DaVinci Gourmet

Amocor’s Herrera points out that “return and refill” is a popular packaging phenomenon in Latin America. 

The Amcor Rigid Packaging’s 2.5 L RefPET bottle is a 100% returnable PET bottle (Image credit: Amcor Latin America).“Returnable and refillable soda bottles allow consumers to purchase products at a lower price in exchange for returning the empty bottle to be refilled and reused again. Amcor Rigid Packaging’s 2.5 L RefPET bottle in Latin America is a 100% returnable PET bottle.”

“This bottle aims to address the entire lifecycle of packaging, from its design and manufacturing to its collection and reuse, while also responding to the growing demand for maintaining consumption habits related to sustainability. Based on Amcor’s lab testing and when compared to one-way or single-use bottles, this PET bottle can be refilled up to 25 times before being recycled.”

Herrara outlines the company’s “cutting-edge technology for bottle design” in the region. 

“The design of the DaVinci bottle improves product packaging performance compared to glass and ensures greater safety than the previous PET format. The new PET shape offers increased stability, with a prism-shaped base that emphasizes the sense of size, elevating the DaVinci Gourmet brand.”

“The project was based on extensive research and benchmarking, resulting in the adoption of a format currently used by Kerry in Malaysia. The team employed reverse engineering to develop the design and create prototypes that were evaluated, refined and corrected.”

“The prism-shaped base provides a brilliant effect with angles of light reflection, adding elegance to the packaging. In addition to the prism-shaped base, the project includes a square bottle and an elongated cylindrical neck, providing practicality and a unique design.”

Challenges and opportunities 

AJE Group’s Russi says that smaller companies in the region may face “considerable barriers,” such as limited access to high-quality recycled materials and the high initial costs of modernizing operations.

“To overcome these challenges, many businesses are forming partnerships with local recyclers and industry associations, fostering a collaborative ecosystem that enables resource sharing and knowledge exchange.”

Another key challenge in the region, according to Russi, lies in fragmented regulations, which “create uncertainty and hinder long-term planning for businesses.” Additionally, incomplete recycling chains limit the region’s ability to close material life cycles. 

“On the other hand, there is immense opportunity to transform post-consumer materials into economic assets, reducing costs for businesses while adding value to the supply chain.

Innovation is another key opportunity.”

“Regulatory frameworks are driving the development of low-impact packaging that meets legal requirements while addressing consumer demand for more sustainable products. This positions Latin America as a crucial player in the global transition toward a circular economy,” says Russi.

He states that Latin America is “uniquely positioned to become a global leader in sustainable packaging.”

The design of the DaVinci bottle (Image credit: Amcor Latin America).“However, achieving this requires a balance between environmental and economic development. An ambitious global plastics treaty, grounded in science and life cycle principles, is essential to align regional efforts with international goals. Such a treaty should prioritize pollution reduction and material recovery while fostering economic growth through job creation in recycling and technological innovation.”

“Environment and economy need not be at odds. By promoting policies that integrate market realities with scientific insights, solutions can be both sustainable and economically viable. Incentivizing businesses to innovate and adopt circular practices, rather than imposing restrictive measures, will be crucial to positioning Latin America as a competitive and responsible global player.”

A well-crafted treaty can provide the necessary framework to harmonize regional policies and close regulatory gaps while advancing a circular economy that benefits both the planet and its people.

Understanding the local context 

Greenback Recycling Technologies’ Ludlow-Palafox says that one of the problems he notices in Latin America in general “is that we insist on sometimes copying what has worked in other places with completely different social, economic and geographical context.”

Addressing packaging industry workers based in the region, he says: “Don’t be afraid to tell the sustainability director of whoever is your headquarters when something is not possible. Make sure to point it out if you know that’s now how things work in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Chile or elsewhere.”

“I have come to this conclusion by looking at some examples of companies that do not do things this way because they always knew it was not going to work.”

He says employees should be able to express their opinion: “You are saying that we need to do this because this worked in Switzerland. Well, that’s not going to work here and these are the reasons for it, and therefore, we suggest we try this approach.”

One such example, according to Ludlow-Palafox, is Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) for glass. “In some cases, you don’t even have to charge a deposit  there. Sometimes they do, but it’s a voluntary DRS. You just drop your bottle of beer, which is glass, you pay a little bit of money, and then you go back, and you bring it back the day after.”

“But things work in a different way, and you know, people will go back and give their glass bottles back the day after because they don’t want to lose that money. While in Europe, in many places, people think ‘it’s just 20 cents, I don’t care,’ and they chuck it away.”