The document highlights the transition from fossil-based plastics to more recyclable paper packaging, increases in recycling rates, and coordinated industry efforts to support harmonised recycling standards under evolving EU regulatory frameworks. Industry shift towards recyclable paper packaging and circularityThe report notes that the European packaging market has increasingly shifted from plastics to paper packaging, driven in part by the EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive and broader sustainability pressures. Paper and board packaging is widely used across markets and has established itself as a key contributor to recycling efforts. In Europe, the recycling rate for paper packaging stands at around 87%, surpassing legal EU targets for the end of the decade and outpacing recycling rates in other regions. Together with industry standardisation efforts, such policies are seen as central to strengthening Europe’s leadership in circular packaging solutions.