Small-format flexible plastic packaging, like wrappers and sachets, is a key systemic barrier to addressing plastic waste, as identified in our 2030 Plastics Agenda for Business. It's the fastest-growing type of plastic packaging worldwide, and scaled solutions to recyclerecycleTransform a product or component into its basic materials or substances and reprocessing them into new materials. the material are currently not widely available. Where there is a lack of sufficient collection and recycling systems, the likelihood of this packaging ending up in the environment could be increased.
Tackling small-format flexible packaging waste requires multiple complementary approaches: moving away from small-format packaging wherever feasible through reduction and reusereuseThe repeated use of a product or component for its intended purpose without significant modification., the development of responsibly designed alternative materials, and improvements in collection and recycling systems. Paper-based alternatives are one part of that picture and it's a part we've been working to advance.
Our vision for paper-based alternatives
In March 2026, we published a report recognising the valuable role paper-based flexible packaging alternatives could play in high-leakage markets, as one part of a broader circular economycircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. strategy. The report was endorsed by 48 businesses, NGOs, investors and academics, and set out six critical criteria for responsible design:
Be responsibly sourced
Be responsibly produced
Meet technical, economic, and consumer needs
Be recyclable locally
Avoid hazardous chemicals and persistent plastic pollution
Fit within a broader, socially inclusive circular economy strategy
The report was clear that paper-based solutions don't yet exist at the performance, scale and cost required, and called for accelerated innovation to get them there. The PaperFlex Consortium is an answer to that call.
The PaperFlex Consortium
We convened the PaperFlex Consortium, powered by (RE)SET, to accelerate the development and scaling of paper-based flexible packaging solutions through R&D partnership. Six major FMCG companies — Colgate-Palmolive, Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever — are founding members.
Through the consortium, members intend to shape, fund and conduct collaborative trials in areas such as biodegradable coatings, new coating technologies, and improving how paper-based materials perform on manufacturing lines. Guided by the vision set out in our report and a dual end-of-life ambition — recyclability and biodegradability — the consortium's work is focused on markets with limited formal collection and recycling systems.
Joint research and development will help members develop and scale promising innovations faster and at a lower cost, getting new options to consumers sooner.
The consortium promotes a rigorous innovation process, designed to identify solutions that meet demanding environmental, social, technical and economic requirements before they're scaled. Not every solution explored will prove viable and shared learning from both successes and failures is part of how the sector moves faster, together.
The consortium aims to help accelerate the availability of solutions. Each member continues to set its own packaging strategy and make its own decisions independently, individually and in their own interests.
Scaling solutions will take the whole value chain
The launch of this consortium is a strong signal of demand for responsibly designed paper-based flexible packaging solutions, and shows real ambition from its six founding members to scale them. But there's more work to be done.
We invite other FMCG companies using small-format flexible packaging to join the consortium, helping them scale solutions faster and at a lower cost. We encourage innovators, solution suppliers and investors to accelerate the development and scaling of paper-based flexible packaging solutions that meet the criteria set out in our report. At the same time, sustainable fibre sourcing and stronger collection and recycling systems matter just as much as innovation. So we're calling on industry and governments to help close these gaps, so paper-based solutions can deliver their full environmental benefits.
Find out more and register your interest in the PaperFlex Consortium
