There are moments where everything appears to come together. Not perfectly, because this industry is anything but simple, but in a way that gives a clearer picture of what’s really happening.
Recently, there has been reflection on two perspectives at once.
- The scale of progress being seen across the recycling system.
- The very human reality of how people are actually experiencing packaging day to day.
The story that emerges isn’t a straight line of success. It’s a bit messier than that.
It’s a story of real progress… but also real confusion.
A System That Is Moving Forward
Starting with what’s working, there is a great deal to be encouraged by.
Across the US, meaningful, tangible system change is being observed. Not in theory, but in practice:
- More than 2 billion pounds of recyclables recovered
- Over 2 million recycling carts delivered into communities
- $658 million invested into improving recycling infrastructure¹
These numbers aren’t abstract. They represent households that now have access, communities that are better equipped, and materials that are actually being captured and reused.
In real-life terms:
- The difference between someone having a bin to use… or not
- Between throwing something away… or recycling it without even thinking twice
When that access is there consistently, behavior change begins to emerge. In Michigan, for example, recycling rates have increased from 14% to 25%, with ambitions to reach 30% by 2029².
This didn’t happen overnight. It required sustained investment, education, and extensive coordination.
A consistent theme emerges: this is complex, long-term work, but it is effective when maintained.
But Standing at the Bin… It’s Still Not Clear
Here is the reality check.
While recycling systems are progressing globally, at the exact moment that matters most, when someone is standing at the bin, confusion still prevails.
Extensive global consumer research shows:
- 52% of consumers globally say packaging labels are confusing
- 65% admit they’ve recycled something without being sure it was recyclable
- In the US, nearly half still find labelling unclear
Even within the industry, moments of hesitation and second-guessing are still common. If it is not instinctive for those immersed in the sector every day, it becomes difficult to expect clarity for the general public.
This highlights a core tension:
Increasingly sophisticated systems have been developed… but they have not always been intuitive.
That gap between intention and understanding is where significant value is lost.
When the System Doesn’t Match the Packaging
The data highlights an important truth:
Sometimes the issue isn’t confusion – it’s capability.
Packaging is being designed and produced in ways that are not aligned with the infrastructure available to manage it. Flexible packaging is a clear example. It represents 34% of plastic packaging, yet only 2% of US households can recycle it through kerbside collections³.
The result:
- It ends up in the wrong place
- It goes to landfill
- It becomes a source of frustration
From a consumer perspective, this creates a disconnect. Effort is being made to recycle, but the system does not support that effort.
Over time, this weakens engagement.
This is reflected in behavior:
- 16% of people in the US report not recycling any packaging
- Compared to 7% in Europe⁴, where systems and access are generally more consistent
This is not a lack of care, it is a lack of consistency.
Consumers Are Engaged – They Just Want Guidance
Encouragingly, consumers have not disengaged. They are still trying and still seeking clarity. Globally, 78.6% of consumers say businesses should do more to guide them on how to recycle packaging⁵. This is a strong signal. The issue is not convincing people that recycling matters, they already believe it does. The challenge is making it easier to act on that belief.
This requires a shift in mindset:
Not just asking, “Is this packaging recyclable?”
But asking, “Is it obvious what to do with it?”
These are fundamentally different questions.
Regulation Is Accelerating the Pressure, and the Opportunity
At the same time, the regulatory landscape is moving quickly.
With 1 in 5 Americans now living in states where EPR legislation is in place, and frameworks like California’s SB 54 setting requirements for recyclability, recovery rates, and reduction targets, the expectations on industry are tightening.
But what is interesting is how regulation is starting to intersect with the consumer experience.
It’s no longer enough to say something is recyclable in theory. Increasingly, it needs to be recyclable in practice, at scale, and in the real world where people are making decisions.
And that’s where things get more complex because it connects design, infrastructure, policy, and behavior into one system. Which is exactly how it should be.
Trust Is Sitting in the Balance
Another thread running through all of this is trust.
On the surface, things don’t look too bad, around 60% of consumers say they trust sustainability claims. But only 22% say they trust them completely. That’s a big gap. It tells us that consumers are open, but cautious. They’re listening, but they’re also questioning.
And with around 1 in 5 believing sustainability claims are green washing, and another 1 in 5 not paying attention at all, it’s clear that inconsistent messaging has already had an impact.
Trust, once lost, is hard to rebuild. And right now, clarity and consistency are the levers we need to focus on.
Where Momentum Is Building
Despite these challenges, there is strong reason for optimism. A stronger connection is beginning to form across different parts of the system.
There is evidence of:
- Better integration of data into decision-making
- More intelligent labeling approaches
- Technology connecting packaging to real, localized recycling guidance
Individually, these developments may seem incremental. Collectively, they begin to close the gap between system capability and human behavior.
They shift the narrative from:
“This should be recyclable”
to
“This is how to recycle it, right here, right now.”
That shift is significant.
Bringing It All Together
Taking a step back, the system is evolving quickly.
We have:
- Significant investment driving infrastructure
- Regulation pushing accountability
- Technology enabling smarter decisions
- And consumers who are willing to engage
But we’re still carrying complexity into the very moment where simplicity matters most. And that brings us back to where it started. That exact moment when you decide where your empty packaging is going. Because if we can make that decision effortless, no hesitation, no confusion, then everything else we’re building starts to work harder.
What This Means for Industry
The implications for industry are increasingly clear.
We’re moving beyond a point where progress can be measured by technical recyclability alone. What matters now is whether packaging actually works in practice, within the reality of local systems and everyday consumer behavior.
And that’s where the challenge, and the opportunity, really sits.
To respond effectively, businesses need to think more holistically. Not in isolated decisions, but across the full system:
- Designing packaging that is recyclable in the real world, not just in theory
- Aligning formats with the infrastructure that actually exists, recognizing how much this varies by region
- Making labeling clearer, simpler and more intuitive at the moment it matters most
- And using data to connect compliance, design choices and behavior, so decisions are informed, joined-up and future-ready
A shift in mindset is emerging:
From viewing sustainability through a compliance lens…
To designing packaging as part of a connected system.
Because the organisations that will move forward fastest aren’t the ones solving individual challenges in isolation. They’re the ones thinking about how packaging performs across regulation, infrastructure and the consumer experience, all at once. And when those elements start to align, that’s when we begin to see real, lasting impact.
Where Aura Fits In – Turning Complexity into Clarity
This is exactly where we spend most of our time at Aura Global. Because if there’s one thing we hear consistently from our clients, it’s this:
“We know what we need to achieve – but navigating how to get there is complicated.”
They’re dealing with:
- Multiple, evolving regulations across markets
- Increasing pressure from EPR and recyclability requirements
- Growing consumer expectations around transparency and trust
- And complex packaging portfolios that don’t always align with local infrastructure
And that’s where we come in.
We don’t just interpret the landscape, we translate it into something practical. Something actionable. Something teams can actually use to make better decisions every day.
Through our consultancy work, we help organisations:
- Build clear, future-ready packaging strategies
- Align design decisions with real-world recyclability and compliance
- Turn regulatory complexity into structured, manageable road maps
- And importantly, connect all of that back to what consumers need and expect
But for me, one of the biggest shifts we’ve made in recent years is through our proprietary platform e-halo. Because data, on its own, doesn’t change anything. What matters is how you use it.
e-halo takes that complexity (legislative requirements, packaging data, recyclability criteria, environmental impact) and brings it into one place, in real time.
It allows teams to:
- Understand the recyclability of their packaging at a granular level
- Track compliance across different jurisdictions
- Identify packaging attribute risks and bans early, before they become problems
- And make decisions that are not just compliant, but credible and future-proof
And that’s why our clients choose to work with us. Not because we make sustainability sound simple, but because we help make it work in practice.
We bridge the gap between:
- Strategy and delivery
- Data and decision-making
- And ambition and real-world impact
Final Reflection
After more than 25 years in packaging, there is now a strong alignment on what needs to be achieved.
- The ambition is clear
- The direction is clear
- The capability exists
- The tools are available
The priority now is consistent, scalable, real-world implementation.
At its core, the challenge is simple:
- Make sustainability work in real life, not just on paper.
- When that happens at scale, meaningful change follows.
- And the brands that succeed will not just meet regulation—they will make it effortless for people to do the right thing.
